Mistakes (and Memories) Were Made
by Madame Pomme
Summary: With Voldemort returning and England being forbidden to interfere by the Ministry, said nation had to be more resourceful. He had to send someone, or a group of someones, in his place. He had to send someone the Ministry would never suspect. He had to send someone who wouldn't blow anything up...
1. Chapter One

**So, this is my first ever fanfiction, and I don't know if it's any good. I really wanted to read something like this, but couldn't find it anywhere, so I decided to use my mediocre writing skills to write it myself for my own enjoyment. I hope it's okay and that you enjoy it also.**

 **The letter that was sent and the problems that arose from it.**

England sat at his desk, staring at the letter in front of him. More specifically, at the words written on said letter. The sheer audacity of them... He read them over and over again. Silently to himself, then aloud, then to the owl that had delivered the letter. He simply couldn't believe them.

But no matter how many times he read them, they never changed. It was the same handwriting, the same ink, the same sentences. He read it once again:

 _'Dear Arthur,  
_ _It has come to my knowledge that, due to some recent rumours, you might attempt to contact Hogwarts or interfere in any magical event of any kind. I write to tell you not only that these rumours are absolutely false, but also to tell you that you and your family (yes, all of them) are hereby forbidden from going near Hogwarts, contacting anyone from Hogwarts, or just playing a part in general Wizarding affairs._

 _Sincerely,_  
 _Cornelius Fudge_ '

'I mean- honestly- do they expect- I can't just-'

England drew a deep breath, and slowly exhaled. He felt a headache coming along. He had already felt the effects of Voldemort's return. They didn't expect him to stand around and wait while his people were slaughtered, did they?

Especially considering how little the Ministry was doing to stop Voldemort.

Maybe America was rubbing off on him, because his next thought was that there were always ways around the rules.

Loopholes, if you will.

He wasn't going to sit around and watch his people die, even if it meant making the Ministry a bit mad. He never was one to abide by rules he thought were absolute rubbish. Though, he knew the Minister would have people monitoring Hogwarts and the grounds near it for any sign that England was around. So he couldn't go at it, but he could send someone in his place. Someone who could make sure a young boy by the name of Harry Potter didn't get himself killed before he could defeat the dark wizard. Someone who could keep England posted on what was happening.

He needed someone on the inside, that much was clear. But who to send? He could ask Norway or Romania, his magic buddies, although- no... they would be too preoccupied trying to quell the rumours, trying to calm down frightened wizards and hunt down revived Death Eaters.

He could ask the Frog, but- no, he would likely be encountering a similar problem.

He couldn't ask any of his former colonies, as they counted as siblings by nation's standards, and to Fudge.

England went on like this for a while more, listing countries in is head and finding nothing but reasons they couldn't or shouldn't help. Until...

Yes, they would do nicely. Not a large group, but enough to keep sufficient watch without drawing suspicion. The Ministry would never catch onto them, and they were fairly responsible. Most of them, at least.

England had a few letters to write.


	2. Chapter Two

**Asking for help in the most awkward way possible.**

"There we go, off with you then." England shooed away the final owl. He had just finished writing letters (quick, brief ones, he would explain everything later should they accept his proposal) to possibly the only group that could help him infiltrate Hogwarts. Now all that was left were the replies. This was his least favourite part of any plan, the waiting. It made him slightly anxious. It's was late evening, but England did not want to sleep, he wanted to be awake to read the responses.

So he helped himself to a well deserved cup of warm tea, sat down in a comfortable chair, picked up a good book, and started the wait.

It took some time (after all, the owls had to travel some distance. They were not nearly as fast as muggle texts or emails) but eventually, the first two owls came back, carrying a paper not unlike the one he sent out. After reading it, once, twice, and a third time to commit it to memory, he thanked the bird and set a date for the meeting. He then sent the owls out again, holding a note with the time and place on it.

The next few owls that arrived all carried similar messages of acceptance, and England again wrote the time and place on a small piece of paper, rolled it up, and sent the owl off. He was just dozing off in his chair when the final owls flew into his window with a startling slam, scaring England half to death and forcing him to write yet another letter. His hand was getting cramped.

He spent the next few hours trying desperately to fall asleep again, and after some failed attempts, decided to plan for the next week. Mainly everything to do with Hogwarts and how to get his group in without seeming suspicious.

Harry Potter was going into his fifth year, so if he wanted to be close they needed to be with Harry, in that same year. Many of his group appeared too old to be sixteen (as most fifth years were), so some spell would be required to make them younger. Then there was the matter of wands and cloaks and school supplies, all of which could be picked up at Diagon Alley, but fifth years don't usually get new wands, do they? Ahh, he'd make something up. He could always just say their robes don't fit anymore, and that they don't yet have the required school reading, so he didn't give this much though.

Their cover story, though, would be another story. He couldn't say they were part of Beauxbatons or Durmstrang or another school with close ties with Hogwarts, because a school official could easily figure out they were not, in fact, students there. England would have to come up with either a fake school, or use an existing one without much contact (though that would lead to suspicious people wondering why a school that never talked to other schools suddenly entered transfer students, or a particularly intelligent student could notice that their made up school appears nowhere in history). But there were always going to be risks, no matter what plan he could come up with.

All of these problems could be addressed at the meeting, he supposed, for he was starting to feel sleepy.

His dream that night might well have been one of the weirdest he'd ever had.


	3. Chapter Three

**There's an... owl... at my window?!**

Germany awoke with a start, only to find that there was a rather annoying tapping against one of his bedroom windows. Half asleep, he checked the clock. _'Half past four in the morning'_ he noted. He walked over to the window, thinking the tapping was simply a branch, and pulled aside the curtains to open it.

He did not expect a large spotted owl to fly into his room, followed by an even larger white owl. Each of them had a rolled paper in its talons, Germany noticed, after getting over his initial shock. He was extremely confused, but the spotted owl lifted it's leg as if beckoning him to take it the paper. Gently, he reached out to take it, which read:

 _'Dear Ludwig,  
There are a few things we need to talk about, but due to certain security risks, I can't say them here. I need someone, or a group of someones, to help me with a rather special task. I can't tell you exactly what it is yet, but you do have the right to decline. Please send your response back with the owl, telling me when you are available should you choose to accept._

 _Sincerely,_  
 _Arthur Kirkland'_

Germany, or the so called Ludwig, could guess a few of these security concerns, like, or example, having the message dropped mid-flight. After reading the full letter, he felt his curiosity begin to creep out. What was this task? Why could England not talk about it?

Feeling almost annoyed at the lack of information, he decided to write back.

 _'Arthur,  
_ _I am available from two p.m to seven p.m on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday._

 _Ludwig'_

It was short, it was straight to the point, it was everything it needed to be. He then turned back to the owls now resting on the end of his bed. He briefly wondered how one went about attaching a letter to the bird without being scratched, but he saw how the other owl carried it's letter, so he copied that. It seemed to work, and the owl flew out the minute Germany opened his window.

Looking at the other owl, he reached to take the letter from it. Unravelling the paper, it appeared to be the exact same format and wording as his, although where his had said Ludwig, this one said Gilbert.

He read it over (partially to see if it was, indeed, the same letter, and partially to memorize the words) while walking over to Prussia's room, where he not so gently shook his brother awake (which ended up being an ordeal, as Prussia was somewhat a heavy sleeper). Once Prussia was awake, though groggy, Germany gave him the letter and told him to write back just as he had done.

When that letter was complete, they gave it to the remaining owl, and watched it fly off before returning to their beds and promptly falling back to sleep.

Germany woke up later with the perplexing feeling that he had to watch out for falling pieces of parchment.


	4. Chapter Four

**Surely I'm hallucinating? Right? Right?**

It was around five in the morning when a small, round owl made it to Austria's house. Luckily for said nation, he was not awoken by the tapping at his window, as he was already awake. (He would claim it was because true talent never sleeps, though he really just needed a glass of water).

He opened the window almost immediately, first making sure it wasn't a murderer or Prussia, then looked around as the small ball of feathers landed on the side of his couch. _'Is anyone else seeing this?'_ he wondered (though there was only Hungary in his house besides him, and she was in her room asleep, definitely _'not'_ seeing this). He was still looking around when a larger, though still not very big, owl flew into his home and settled next to the smaller one.

Startled, it was only when the first owl hoo-ed and lifted its leg, that Austria noticed the role of paper on it. He apprehensively reached out to take the paper, and was pleasantly surprised when the bird did not bite him. Unraveling the paper, he started to read.

The first thing he noted was the use of their human names, which raised some concern. Next was the glaring lack of information, it was clear England wanted them to accept, even if to just explain things. Finally, he took special notice of the part of the letter that said he could decline. He had half a mind to, when the second owl, the larger one, started hooting loudly in a way that was sure to wake Hungary.

And wake Hungary it did, as less than two minutes later her door opened and he could hear her footsteps coming towards the living room where all this was going down. She was not very happy with her abrupt awakening, and, for a terrifying moment, she was completely silent.

"... Austria?"

"Yes?"

"What is all this? Why are there birds in your couch?"

"I believe we have mail, they were carrying letters, one is addressed to you. From England."

She sighed, and read her letter. A few moments later, she asked,

"That's all? Write back, tell him we can meet on his terms."

He did as she said, saying something more along the lines of _'I am free to meet whenever you are, I have no preference as to time'_ and wrote the same thing on another sheet of paper. After finishing these letters, he paused.

" Do you know how to get these sheets onto those birds?"

"Nope. This is all you, Austria." It infuriated Austria that she was smirking.

He sighed, looked at the owls, folded the papers and held it out to them. To his surprise, and to the surprise of Hungary behind him, the owls listed their legs and allowed him to tied the papers to them without being gouged. They then took leave out of the still open window.

"Are we sure that wasn't a dream?" he leaned toward her and asked.

"Yes, yes we are."


	5. Chapter Five

**Thus ends the character introductions. If you couldn't tell, I really like the Germanics (and yes, I know Hungary isn't Germanic, but she's too amazing to be left out and I didn't want Liechtenstein to be the only girl). There aren't enough fics of them interacting, and I know there are fics of Germany and Prussia going to Hogwarts, but as a group there aren't any to my knowledge (if there are please tell me, I'd love to read them!). I hope none of the nations are two out of character. Liechtenstein is really fun to write.**

 **Why are there owls in my living room?!**

Liechtenstein woke up quite early, though not as early as her brother, and decided to take a small run to wake her body up. The last thing she expected to see when she came back was a large brown bird, that was, upon further inspection, and owl, sitting on the windowsill.

Now Liechtenstein was, no doubt, an animal lover, so she was pleasantly surprised to see it sitting there, though she wondered what it was doing all the way over here. She spent a few minutes admiring the way the newly risen sun bathed its feathers in gold, and how it always seemed to be watching her (she had fun with this one, moving all around to see where it's head would go). She was even happier when a similar owl, this one paler brown, also landed on the windowsill. During her admiring, she noticed a small, rolled up paper, and she took it from the magnificent creature.

Liechtenstein could not, for the life of her, figure out what to make of the letter. What did England mean 'security risks'? Surely people wouldn't be hunting owls like these, would they? If the task was so important, too, why was the letter so short? What kept him from explaining?

She asked herself all of these while taking and unrolling the second owl's paper. Reading it, she realised it was the exact same letter, just with her brother's name in the _Dear __ spot. If this one was for Switzerland, then England must want both if them to show up. He wouldn't be back for a while, though as he had gone to work a while earlier. Not to mention the fact that he won't want to get involved with England's issues.

She started coming up with reasons to get him to go, as she didn't want to go without him (he would be lonely) and she desperately wanted to know what this was all about.

Having settled with a reason to schedule a meeting with England, she went back to her admiring of the owls, and, after a bit, started drawing them to pass time.

Her brother came home at exactly five in the evening, and almost immediately noticed the owls. He froze, stared for a minute, and asked,

"Why are they here?"

"Oh, I went in a run this morning after you left, and when I came back they were over there!" She pointed to the window. "They had letters on their legs, one for me and one for you!"

"Have you read them yet?"

"Yes, they're the same. England wants us to meet him. He wants us to say what time we are available."

"Did he say why?"

"No, but I would like to go just to find out."

"... We can... do that, I suppose."

"Really! Oh, thank you brother!"

"Mmhmm, have you written a reply yet?"

"Not yet, but I will now!"

"Tell him we're available a throughout Monday and Thursday of this week."

"Okay!"

She wrote down exactly what her brother told her too, then, ever so gently, gave the note to the owls, and watched in fascination as they flew off. She then went to prepare a special dinner for Switzerland and herself, and they enjoyed a nice night full of light, but meaningful conversation.


	6. Chapter Six

**So, this is the longest chapter I've posted so far. To explain some things, I have up to chapter fourteen (or maybe thirteen if I ultimately decide to merge one of the shorter ones with another), and am working on the fifteenth. So, right now updates are quick, but they will become a lot less frequent when we get to the point where I actually have to write the chapter before posting it. On the subject of length, they will get longer when the nations get to Hogwarts, I promise.**

 **(Also, I just realised that I spent an hour making sure that the last chapter was grammatically correct and everything was spelled right, and then I go and use the wrong 'too/to/two' in the Author's Note...)**

 **A meeting made for... champions...?**

England spent his Monday morning getting ready for the meeting he had scheduled. It wasn't as though he was nervous, he just didn't know exactly how to... explain all this. How do you tell people that they need to go to a magic school full of witches and wizards and protect one Harry Potter, while also watching out for the infamous dark wizard Voldemort? That's not something you can just dump on someone, yet that's exactly what England planned to do.

His meeting was at three in the afternoon, and it was currently ten in the morning, so he had quite some time to collect his thoughts. First, offer up the mission, see who accepts. There ought to be a few out of the six he was meeting. Then, for those who accept there were the matters of making them look younger (which was really the least of his concerns, as that was a simple spell for someone with _his_ magic power), the wands (he had considered telling Ollivander that their wands are Gregorovitch creations, and thus would not be appreciated in Hogwarts, or simply that their school did not want their wands to be taken with them to Hogwarts), the robes and school supplies (he could just say he needed new robes fitted, and they haven't yet gotten school things, which was true), and the cover story (he had ultimately settled on saying they same from a small magic school in Germany that accepts people from all over Middle Europe, which would explain Hungary, that was in repair).

He had thought about all of these, and yet still found flaws in his stories, or bits that could be changed to make more sense. He also had to take into account that he wasn't supposed to be interfering, so if he were to help them get their necessities he would need to remain hidden in case someone could recognize him.

By the time he finally felt ready, he looked at the clock and it was...

It was only noon.

He had three hours left.

He really hoped that planning all this would take longer.

Darn.

Now he had nothing to do. He had finished the book he was reading, there was nothing even remotely interesting in the newspapers, magical or not, and there was nothing interesting on the tele. He was bored.

Deciding against sitting around and whining (like America whenever he's bored) England dug out some of his old magic games, including his favourites, exploding snap and wizard's chess (though wizard's chess wasn't as fun with only one player). He set an alarm for two forty-five, and he slowly, meticulously, carefully, started building an exploding snap card castle.

When that alarm rang, however, he was in the middle of setting up the third tower on what was to be a magnificent castle, complete with kings and queens and knights from his wizard's chess board, and unfortunately, his startled jump was enough to set it all off.

Quickly dusting himself off and sweeping up the ashes, he double and triple checked that everything was in order and made some tea while he waited for his guests to arrive.

It didn't take long for Switzerland and Liechtenstein to get there, and it was no surprise to England that they were first, considering Switzerland's tendency for punctuality. Of course, not long after they sat down, the doorbell rang again and Germany and Prussia entered. Prussia fascinated himself with the magic games currently on England's desk as they waited for the final pair. They didn't have to wait terribly long, however, as Hungary and Austria showed up five minutes later.

One main benefit to calling the Germanics and Hungary was that they tended to be on time for things. Unlike _certain_ nations that always arrived fifteen minutes late with a bag of McDonald's or Starbucks.

Once they were all seated in a semi circle around the island nation's living room desk (which he himself sat at), he situated them all with some tea, and got to the point.

"I know you have a lot of questions, and I'll answer them all shortly. However, what I'm going to tell you is very important. Before I say anything, I'm telling you that you can chose to decline my offer if you want.

"As I'm sure some of you know, I'm a very... _magical_ nation. I can control my magic power into making spells and the like. This is mainly because of my large wizard population, which is being threatened by a powerful dark wizard known as Voldemort, who has recently risen to power again. Our only hope at stopping him for good is a young boy by the name of Harry Potter, who is currently enrolled as a fifth year in Hogwarts, my magic school." England heard Prussia snicker, and decided to do the gentlemanly thing and ignore him. "As I have been forbidden to interfere and many other countries are caught up at the moment, I need at least one of you to agree to go to Hogwarts as students and watch over Harry."

He let this sink in for a minute. They all sat, looking at each other for about five minutes, until Liechtenstein spoke up and said,

"I would like to help."

"I will help also."

It was, unsurprisingly, Switzerland that spoke after his sister, though he didn't look very approving. Then Hungary offered her help, then Prussia (claiming that he would be stupid to miss such as awesome opportunity), then Germany and finally, Austria (who looked a bit unsure but didn't seem to want to be left out).

England was taken by surprise that all of them had agreed, as he had only expected one or two to come along with his possibly insane proposal. Recovering quickly, he began to continue.

"As I said Harry is in his fifth year, and typically fifth year student are sixteen, now, save Liechtenstein, none of you look sixteen. So I need to fix that, it's just a small spell, nothing major, you won't feel anything. We'll do that now then, if you could just stand in a circle here."

He ushered everyone except Liechtenstein into a circle, grabbed an old book, and started chanting what sounded like gibberish. A thin fire grew around the group, and with a bright light, England's chanting stopped.

As the light dimmed, Liechtenstein and England looked on in amusement as the new sixteen year olds sat back down. Switzerland hardly changed at all, which Prussia found amusing. Germany and Prussia got much shorter, much thinner, and much more young looking. Hungary just looked a bit rounder face-wise and Austria lost some height, but they weren't changed much.

"Now then, now that that's done, Liechtenstein, you can sit back down, you will all need certain... uh... _supplies_ , yes, supplies, to start the year off. We'll be going off to Diagon Alley to get you those things, meanwhile, I'll tell you your cover story, and I'll get the headmaster to officially accept you lot as students. If you've got someone you can ask to take care of nation business, I'd ask them, if not just hope nothing big happens. I do believe that's it."

And with that final sentence, the group finished their tea and went their separate ways (though really they went to a hotel not to far away). England sat down at his desk, and started writing to the famous, or infamous, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.


	7. Chapter Seven

**The mysterious case of one William Taylor.**

Dumbledore would most certainly not be considered normal by muggles, though many wizards also see him as quite...unusual. Quite odd...

Yes, that was the word.

Odd.

That word could be used to describe a lot of things about this day. Dumbledore had chosen to wear very _odd_ brown robes. It was _oddly_ quiet. The owl on his desk was rather _'odd'_ looking. The message it held was not any less _odd._

It was one of those messages that was clearly written with both utmost care and unflinching bluntness. The handwriting was unfamiliar to the headmaster, though it almost looked as though it was made to seem that way. As though the author went through great pain to make it as unrecognisable as possible. The words, however, were the most interesting part.

 _'Good Evening Headmaster Dumbledore,_

 _I write to you to ask that you accept six foreign students into the fifth year at Hogwarts. They come from a Wizarding school in Germany (the name is not allowed to be disclosed) and speak very fluent English. You'll find they have no problem keeping up with your students should you choose to accept them. The school is being temporarily closed for structure repair to make sure the grounds are safe, and I hoped they could stay at Hogwarts so as to not fall behind. I leave their names and other information attached. I hope you consider letting them in._

 _Sincerely,_

 _William Taylor'_

This left Dumbledore slightly curious. He had never heard of this Wizarding school in Germany, or any Wizarding school in Germany. He had never heard of this William Taylor before either, but he had a sneaking suspicion that it was not the author's real name.

He read the student's names and files again and again and again, perhaps looking for flaws that would reveal something, or maybe just extremely curious. It wasn't every day he got on offer like this. Though, to no surprise, they were perfectly normal student files, listing names, birth dates, address, year, achievements, and similar such things.

Of course, after some consideration, he let the students in, and added their names to the list of students attending this year.

After all, who was he to deny students their right to learn? He wrote a quick letter to this 'Mr. Taylor' telling him that his request was accepted, and that his students were now enrolled.

Quietly, as though nothing had happened, he returned to his previous thoughts, sitting down and pushing this whole mystery to the back of his mind.

Yes, that was certainly odd... although it was nothing as odd as the old man himself.

 **You have no idea how hard it was to refrain from calling him 'William Williams', honestly.**

 **This one was short, that's why I posted two today. I'll probably won't post two back to back unless one is really short.**


	8. Chapter Eight

**My Update Schedule, let me explain it.**

 **I am going to post one chapter every day (maybe two if one is particularly short) until I have posted all of the chapters I have pre-written. As I said in the last Author's note, I have written about fifteen.**

 **After that, I will try and update once a week, preferably on Saturdays or Sundays, but it might be a bit sporadic as I am doing this for enjoyment and I don't want to rush and cause my writing to become will slow down for this fic at some point, especially since I don't own the book and need to check it out from a library to make this as accurate to the books as possible.**

 **Sorry for the long note, someone asked about it and I wanted to answer them. (Hope this answered you).**

 **Why must shopping be so hard?**

After having received Dumbledore's reply (which hardly came as any sort of surprise, as the man was very trusting) England gave everyone their instructions and told them to meet back at the Leaky Cauldron when they were done. He had decided to leave Germany in charge, seeing as how he was probably the most responsible person, and he was sure to keep the group on task. Besides, he couldn't interfere.

He hoped that he hadn't made a mistake.

-linebreak-

Germany was definitely regretting some of his decisions, mainly the one lead the ragtag group of now teenagers through Daigon Alley or whatever England called it. It wasn't that they were out of hand or anything. In fact, Liechtenstein and Switzerland were engaged in quiet conversation to his right. ' _Most likely about everything around here'_ he thought, and Hungary and Austria were taking in said everything. No, they weren't out of hand, but it was the fact that Prussia was constantly asking questions about their surroundings, even though he knew none of them could answer.

It was getting very annoying very, very quickly.

"Are the awesome brooms enchanted to fly or is it in their nature?"

"I don't know, Gilbert."

"What about those candies, what kind of awesome spells are on those? Do you think we'll learn something like that? That would be really awesome!"

" _I don't know, Gilbert._ "

"Okay, okay, sheesh... where are we going?"

"Arthur told me the first thing we need is our wands, so we're going to Ollivander's."

"Ohhhhh okay... don't we need money?"

"Arthur gave me enough."

Prussia, or Gilbert, seemed content with this answer, as he nodded and stopped asking questions. Though he still looked around so quickly that Germany thought his brother's head might be thrown off his shoulders.

Sometime later, they entered Ollivander's wand shop with only a little bit of hesitation. A small bell above the door chimed, and immediately, a short man appeared in the corner.

"You lot look a bit old to be picking wands? Are you coming in for repairs?"

It was Hungary who answered him (she agreed to do most of the talking)

"No sir, we are here as transfer students from another school, and we need new wands suitable for Hogwarts."

He looked a bit confused, but agreed nevertheless and asked who was going first.

And thus Prussia was measured up and down, from armpit to fingertip, and around his arm twice. Eventually, Ollivander seemed satisfied with the measurements and put away the tape measure. The wand maker then walked toward one of the farthest walls of boxes and shuffled them around. Grabbing one, he came back, opened the box, and handed the wand inside to the nation, while muttering something under his breath.

The first wand was a failure. It sent large red sparks into the air, which promptly exploded. Ollivander took the wand back very rapidly and went to pick up another box. He gave this new wand to Prussia, and quickly snatched it away before it could be waved. Germany heard Ollivander mutter, almost silently,

"No no, not that one, not that one at all..."

The old man came back with yet another wand, but this time he let Prussia wave it around. Smaller, black sparks formed flowers, which seemed to please Ollivander.

"Yes, yes. Dogwood, Dragon Heartstring, twelve inches and rather bendy."

The next half hour or so was devoted solely to wand picking. Ollivander kept taking boxes from their shelves and giving the wand inside to one of the nations, only to snatch it back and repeat the cycle.

It took Germany thirteen times to find his match, which was "English Oak, Dragon Heartstring, twelve and a half inches, inflexible".

Austria found his match on the eleventh wand "Walnut, Unicorn Hair, thirteen inches, rigid".

It took Hungary eight to find her wand. "Spruce, Dragon Heartstring, ten and three quarters inches, flexible".

Switzerland took six tries with a wand of "Ebony, Dragon Heartstring, ten inches, rather rigid", and…

Liechtenstein took four "Pear, Unicorn Hair, nine and a half inches, somewhat springy".

After paying Mr. Ollivander and apologising for the mess of broken chairs and boxes of wands, the Germanics plus Hungary started down Diagon Alley toward Madame Malkin's Robes For All Occasions to get the next items on their lists. Most fifth year students wouldn't need a full set of new robes, but they weren't most fifth year students. They walked in, and the woman at the counter, presumably Madame Malkin, asked without looking upward, "Hogwarts, dears?"

Hungary responded, saying "We will need some new, better fitting Hogwarts robes."

Madame nodded and finished with the girl she was working with. She turned to the group and asked for their measurements. Once she had them, she took Austria and Germany into the back, and told the others to get settled and wait. It took another half an hour to get everyone fitted, but eventually they were allowed to take their new robes, and (after paying of course) left.

Next stop was Flourish and Blotts for school books. This was nothing exciting, and at this point Prussia was quite bored. After getting the reading, they stopped into a few other shops and got cauldrons, quills, brooms (England figured it would be rather unusual for a fifth year to not have a broom), and pets. They figured only one or two of them needed an owl, so Prussia and Liechtenstein got one. Sadly, Gilbird was too small to carry letters ("and the awesome Gilbird is not and will _never_ be a carrier pigeon"), but Prussia brought the small chick along anyway.

By the time they finished their shopping and returned back to England's home, it was late evening. Each member of the group was carrying large bags and boxes that would have looked extremely strange to anyone passing. Currently, the group was discussing their new possessions.

"I've named my awesome new bird Julchen, isn't she amazing, Luddy!"

"Yes, Gilbert, he's amazing."

"What about you Lilli? What did you name yours?"

"I was thinking about naming him Noah."

"Kesese, Julchen is much more awesome name!"

"It's a dumb one that's for sure..." Austria said under his breath. Prussia chose not to respond with words, and instead just glared pointedly at him.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Teaching magic to the non-magical is harder that it seems.**

When they arrived at England's house, the Germanics and Hungary were quick to drop their bags in the nearest sofa or table. They were surprisingly heavy.

"Did you get everything I told you to?" England asked.

"In the order you wrote them down exactly." Hungary nodded and answered.

"Perfect. Now then, why don't you all unpack your supplies and I'll set up the room."

England walked into the room next to the one they were in, and closed the door. Everyone busied themselves with their purchases, taking them out of the bags and setting various magic items to the side. When England returned, he lead the group into the room he came from. He had pushed everything in it to the very back, and left a large, mostly empty space in the middle of the room. There were six pedestals with vases on top of them in a line in the centre of the room. It was darkly lit, the only window at the end of the room being mostly covered by furniture. Walking into the centre of the empty space near the vases, England started telling them how the rest of the day would be spent.

"Since you all are heading into fifth year, you'll need to know some basic spells, potions, and charms. That's what this room is for. I'll be teaching you things that a regular fifth year in Hogwarts would know.

Of course, this doesn't only include magic, fifth years are also taught magic history and care for magic creatures, and such subjects. Now, if you could stand in a line and hold your wands up." He gestured to the vases, "it might take a while for your first spell to work right, but once you get the hang of it you'll be fine. I want you to say ' _Expelliarmus_ ' very clearly."

England should have known that what followed would be chaos. He should have thought of a better way to set up a training room. He really should have set up better targets instead of telling six people, none of whom had any history with magic or how to do it, to shoot disarming spells at old vases. There was a loud chant of ' _Expelliarmus_ ' and Hungary's vase went flying into the wall opposite her. Liechtenstein's vase tilted slightly, and Austria's moved backward before falling off the pedestal it was on. The other three didn't move, although Prussia did manage to blast his wand out of his own hand.

After a few more tries, everyone's vases had been smashed, and England decided to use this as a stopping point. After all, they still had potions, history, charms, transfiguration, and magic creatures to learn about, as they were going into their O.W.L year. He chose to start with potions, and pushed everyone into another room with cauldrons at every station and vials of all shapes and sizes on the bookshelves lining the walls. Each was filled with different colourful liquids (some seemed more viscous than others). He figured that, since he knew how Snape taught, potion making was basically a test on how well you followed instructions. He wouldn't have to teach them how to make specific potions, but the nations would have to know the ingredients. He got a few of the more important ingredients out of a cupboard and placed them on the table.

It took a while for _certain_ countries to fully grasp the concept of how asphodel and insect wings could make a concoction so powerful as to bloat the taster painfully, but they got there eventually. After assuring himself said countries wouldn't accidentally confuse ingredients with each other and consequently make someone see in monochrome for the rest of the school year, he moved the group into the previous room to teach them transfiguration and charms (he could also run through history of magic while they were in there). The vases had vanished, as well as the pedestals they had stood on. Instead, six desks were set up in a line, and a frog was on each.

He taught them to turn the frog into water glasses, and then taught them to make those glasses float. He figured he could use this as both a transfiguration and charms lesson. When the frogs were returned to normal, he put them away and started teaching history, going over things he assumed fifth years would know, as well as some things the fifth years wouldn't. After looking into who taught at Hogwarts and seeing Mr. Binns still lecturing students on history of magic, it was safe to say that the ghost would talk of nothing but giant wars through the year. It didn't help that he had no idea what fifth years were taught nowadays, as it had been at least one thousand years since he had gone to the school himself.

He decided against teaching the Germanics and Hungary about divination, and after careful consideration, against teaching care of magic creatures as well. The lessons were fairly straightforward, and the Germanics and Hungary were quite good at learning and retaining the information they were taught (England didn't pick them for this... mission... for nothing). He also knew they could easily draw conclusions and ask around if anything did happen confuse them.

Looking at the clock in his living room after ushering everyone out of the room he used for lessons, England was rather surprised to learn that it was eleven pm. They had been at it for at least four hours! And they still had tons of spells to go over.

Quickly, he made the group put away their supplies and sent them to their hotels for the night. They would have to work on it tomorrow. For now, England was left alone in his house. All he wanted to do was sleep. He didn't realize how stressful it would be to place his faith in nations he didn't really talk too much. Some of whom he had fought in wars.

He fell asleep almost immediately. It was a surprisingly dreamless sleep considering how much he had on his mind.


	10. Chapter Ten

**This chapter is really short, that's why it is also being posted. It explains a few things and kind of serves as a transition from the beginning of the story to the middle.**

 **Edit: Some kind person pointed out that I had written "try not to stay out of trouble" instead of "try to stay out of trouble". Thank you so much for catching that!**

 **The plan finally makes sense, though not really.**

The Germanics and Hungary met England at his house yet again, this time to go over many of the spells they didn't get to yesterday. It was now August 30th, and the school year was rapidly approaching. Though there wasn't much England had to do in the way of preparation (he wasn't even going to Hogwarts!) he still felt anxious. He didn't like not being able to do anything, and he really didn't like having to rely on others like this.

Luckily, teaching the group of nations took his mind off of these thoughts. Unluckily, they were quick learners, which meant they finished early. They went back to their hotels around lunchtime (not before England offered them some tea and scones), Prussia mumbling about being bored and wanting to see the sights even though it was supposed to rain today, and Austria wanting to find a good piano to practice a new song. He vaguely heard Liechtenstein ask if they could go to a cafe before the door shut.

He stared at his fireplace and sipped tea for a few minutes, though the tea was cold and not very pleasant. This did not help ease his racing mind. He dreaded the start of the school year.

 _'I could still contact them, maybe even ask them to send weekly updates. Would that make them think I don't trust them? But what if something happens and I don't know about it? Would sending advice be against the no interfering rule? No.. no... the Minister wouldn't bother checking mail, would he?'_

All these ideas were giving him a headache. Why was he so nervous all of a sudden?

Before he knew the answer to any of those questions, it was already six in the evening. Though it wasn't terribly late, he decided it best if he retired for the night.

-linebreak-

They had another meeting the afternoon of the 31st (aka today) to go over and finalize their plans. The Hogwarts Express left tomorrow, and with it, the nations. Now, England's nerves had turned into excitement. It had been a while since he had defied direct orders.

"Alright, so. The train for Hogwarts leaves tomorrow. Meaning this is your last day to ask questions. It leaves the station at eleven o'clock am exactly. You lot will come here at eight at the latest to get your things, and I will drive you to King's Cross Station at no later than ten. I will show you to your platform and see you off. From there on you'll be on your own. Once you're inside the castle, you'll all be sorted into houses based on personality. No, _Gilbert_ I don't know which ones you'll be in. And for God's sake, _please_ try to stay out of trouble." England pointedly looked at Prussia during the last sentence.

Prussia almost sulked at this exclamation. He was hoping to pull all sorts of pranks on teachers he didn't like.

"Furthermore, I want one of you to send me a letter if 'anything' suspicious happens."

"Like what?" Germany asked.

"Like any sightings of Voldemort, any of your house mates acting sketchy, teachers or caretakers acting suspicious, anything of the like." England waved his hand around vaguely at the last bit.

Germany seemed satisfied, as he nodded and did not ask any more questions.

And with this, England sent them off. It was going to be an interesting year, for better or for worse.


	11. Chapter Eleven

**I'm going to be honest. I hate this chapter. It feels rushed despite the fact that I've written it at least three times and spent the longest on this one than any other posted.**

 **Also, yes, I am using Basch for Switzerland and not Vash. If you don't like that then either pretend or don't read it.**

 **Also also, I'm thinking about making a Superhuman/mutant Hetalia Au story, so if that sounds cool, look out for it sometime in May, probably.**

 **In which things actually start happening.**

Harry Potter was on his was to Platform nine and three quarters. He was listening into muggles' conversations, though they weren't nearly as interesting as where he was off to. That was, however, before a blond man with thick (and noticeably darker) eyebrows led six teenagers through King's Cross towards the ninth platform. One of the boys, who was somewhat taller than most of his friends, caught sight of Sirius, or Snuffles, by Harry's side. The boy smiled a bit, before turning to talk to a white haired boy next to him.

"Yes, I see it Gilbert."

"But it's so big Ludwig! Do you think he'd let me pet it?"

"If you want to, then why don't you ask?"

Before the white haired boy could ask, though, Harry called out to them, "He's friendly, you can pet him if you want."

Both boy's faces lit up, they jogged over and the blonde one gingerly placed a hand on Sirius' head. Sirius, obviously enjoying the attention, wagged his tail. Then, the blonde man that was leading the group told them to hurry up. They thanked Harry, patted Sirius goodbye, and jogged back over to their friends. Harry decided this was a good time to go through the barrier, and pushed his way onto the platform. He met up with Hermione and Ron, and started saying goodbye to the Order.

When everyone was done saying their goodbyes, Harry and his friends boarded the train. As usual, many of the cabins were full. They went to the very back of the train, where they passed the cabin the boys from earlier had settled in. It didn't occur to him that he hadn't seen those people before, as they found a nearly empty cabin and took their seats.

-Linebreak-

Prussia did not realize the boy with the large black dog was Harry Potter. Really, he didn't. He just liked dogs.

Of course, England did not appreciate the fact that he had dragged West to see said dog (though West definitely _did_ appreciate it). England not so gently pushed him through the wall, to the amazement of the group, onto platform nine and three quarters. The scarlet train shone back at them, but they didn't have time to stare at it, because England quickly pushed them onto the train and told them to find a cabin. They found one at the back, and sat with Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Hungary on one side and West, himself, and Austria on the other.

They were talking for some time before Harry passed by their cabin windows. Shortly after he passed, the snack cart came around, leading to all sorts of fun in the forms of chocolate frogs, and of course, every flavoured jelly beans.

(Prussia did see a blond boy walking past his cabin at some point, flanked by two gorilla like boys, but didn't pay him much mind).

-Linebreak-

Harry sat in the Great Hall, waiting for the first years to be sorted so that he could eat. The sorting hat began to sing. It wasn't it's usual song about the houses, though. This time, it was a warning. Not thinking much of it, he was ready for the first years to come into the Hall. After they were all sorted, with the last one being in Hufflepuff, Dumbledore stood and walked behind the podium in front of the staff table.

"I know you all are hungry, but I will have to ask you to wait a little while longer. We have a few more students to sort. These students are from a wizarding school in Germany, whose name escapes me. Hogwarts has the pleasure to host six students from that school while it is being repaired. They will be going into their fifth year. I am aware this is unusual, but I ask for your patience until they are sorted."

And with that McGonagall, who had exited the room after the first years had taken their seats, led the six foreign students into the Great Hall. Harry let out a small gasp.

The two boys that had pet Sirius were with them! In fact, it was that whole group from earlier, the one with the man with the eyebrows. Harry didn't have anymore time to contemplate this, however, as the first name was announced.

"Beilschmidt, Gilbert"

The boy with the white hair who had pet Sirius now walked up to the sorting hat. Upon closer inspection, he had red eyes and was rather pale. He heard Ron ask Hermione about the boy's appearance, and she told him he must be some sort of albino. The sorting hat opened its...mouth? folds?... whatever, the hat declared "GRYFFINDOR" and the boy, Gilbert, walked toward the Gryffindor table and sat next to Ginny.

"Beilschmidt, Ludwig"

The other boy that had pet Sirius now walked toward the sorting hat, much like Gilbert had. Harry briefly wondered if they were related at all, because their last names were the same. He didn't have to wonder for long, because Gilbert quietly announced that they were, in fact, brothers (Gilbert made sure to mention that he was the older of the two). The hat yelled "HUFFLEPUFF" and Ludwig sat down near Hannah Abbott.

"Edelstein, Roderich"

A tall boy with glasses, and brown hair (as well as a piece of hair that seemed as though it wouldn't stay down) sat on the stool and had the hat placed on his head. It didn't take long for the sorting hat to declare "RAVENCLAW". Roderich sat near Padma Patil and Luna Lovegood and struck up polite conversation with them as the next name was called out.

"Héderváry, Elizabeta"

This time, it was a girl that walked across the Great Hall. She had long brown hair and a smile on her face. When the hat touched her head, it immediately announced she was a "GRYFFINDOR". She sat near Neville and Gilbert and looked at the next at the next girl called up.

"Zwingli, Lilli"

A small girl with shoulder length blonde hair and an adorable face strode upto the stool. She was almost immediately place in "HUFFLEPUFF" to no one's surprise. Then, the last name was called forward.

"Zwingli, Basch"

A boy with similar hair to the previous girl marched forward. His eyes were intense, but he looked around with amusement while the sorting hat decided on his house. Harry heard Gilbert saying that he and the girl before, Lilli, were siblings, and that he was very protective of her. After "SLYTHERIN" was announced, Dumbledore finally allowed the students to eat.

Dumbledore stood up again after everyone had finished eating, and started to talk,

"Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices. First years ought to know that the forest in the grounds is out of bounds to students-and a few of our older students ought to know by now too. Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four hundred and sixty-second time, to remind you all magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch's office door.

"We have had two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased ti welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons; we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Tryouts for the House Quidditch teams will take place on the-"

" _Hem Hem_ " The pink woman, Professor Umbridge, Harry assumed, stood and took Dumbledore's place at the podium. "Thank you, Headmaster, for those kind words of welcome."

Harry tuned her out, and looked around the Great Hall. No one seemed to be paying Umbridge any attention except Hermione. Gilbert and Elizabeta were conversing quietly to Neville and Ginny. Ludwig was trying to listen, but was ultimately failing in favor of talking to Lilli. Roderich had his eyes closed. Basch was looking at her, but his eyes were glazed.

She finished as suddenly as she started, and sat back down, allowing Dumbledore to take centre stage again. Harry asked Hermione what she had heard, since he didn't catch a word of it.

"The Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts, Harry. " She looked worried as she said this.

Finally, they were allowed to leave. Nearly everyone stood at once, and rushed to their common rooms. They waited for Ginny and Neville, though, so they avoided most of the chaos. It was then that Harry noticed Basch had suddenly joined Gilbert and Elizabeta, and they were speaking in hushed voices is what Harry could only think was German.

"What's he doing here if he's a Slytherin?" Ron asked loudly.

Gilbert looked over to Ron and Harry. He must have been a bit confused, because next asked back "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, he's a Slytherin, and Slytherins are our enemies."

"Oh, well then, I guess I should just stop being friends with people just because a hat told them something, right?"

Ron turned red and spluttered, "W-what? N-no, not that's not what I meant! You see... usually..."

"Relax, kid, I'm only joking with you. We're friends, and we were told by our guardian to stick together. A silly hat isn't going to keep us from talking." Gilbert smirked.

Ron seemed satisfied with this answer, and when Gilbert was done talking to Basch, the Gryffindors walked off to their common room. Of course, Ron and Hermione, as prefects, had to show the wonder filled first years how to get to said common room. Harry, Gilbert, Ginny, Elizabeta, and Neville went ahead. Neville gave the Fat Lady the password, and they all walked into the room.

-Linebreak-

The first thing Gilbert noticed about the Gryffindor common room was that it was very homely. It was warm in colour and in temperature, with a fireplace to one side and staircases on the wall opposite the entrance. It was a place Gilbert wanted to enjoy before he went to bed, but he was just too tired.

Elizabeta went straight to the right staircase, and Gilbert went to the one on the left. So much had happened today that it was no surprise he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the (very soft) pillow.

-Linebreak-

Meanwhile, England had the most restless night in a while.


	12. Chapter Twelve

**This chapter is the longest of any that I have written, and it is probably my favourite. It doesn't have much to do with the plot, but it sets things up. I hope you like this!**

 **In which the gang learns about the people in their houses.**

The sorting hat told Elizabeta that Gryffindors were generally very brave. They didn't shy away from a fight and they were usually the heroes. (She couldn't help but think that this was the house America would be in, it just fit so well).

She learned that Hufflepuffs were loyal and kind, and that Ravenclaws were intelligent and open minded, and that being a Slytherin meant you were cunning and helped yourself before others.

Thinking about it, the houses fit each of the nations that were placed in them.

She was strangely honoured that the hat thought she was brave, or that she had hero potential. Of course, she _was_ a knight, so it really didn't come as much of a surprise.

Breakfast the next morning was chaotic. There were people everywhere, and many of them were talking. World meetings weren't even this loud, and that was saying something. She was wondering whether it was necessary to sit with her housemates when Gilbert dragged her to the Gryffindor table, near Harry and his friends. ' _Ron and_ _Hermione_ ' she thought.

Really, it was Gilbert that was getting close to Harry and his friends. He sat with them, talked with them, generally acted friendly with them all throughout yesterday evening. It wasn't as though Elizabeta wasn't friendly, she just made other acquaintances. Neville, for example, warmed up to her quickly. She found him quite adorable.

It was then that Basch chose to show himself. He put his hand on Gilbert's shoulder, and put his head between hers and Gilbert's. He looked grim.

"The weasel in my house is killing me."

"May I ask why?" questioned Elizabeta.

"All he talks about is his father. ' _My father did this_ ', ' _my father said that_ '. That's all he ever says, and it's starting to get on my nerves."

"You must be talking about Malfoy." Ron butted in. Elizabeta noticed he had a somewhat annoying tendency to listen in on others conversations.

Basch looked over to Ron. "Yeah, he said he was called something like that. Drake or whatever."

This made Ron snort. "It's Draco. Draco Malfoy." he tried to imitate Draco's voice.

"Yeah, that. They all follow him too, most of them at least. It's ridiculous."

"Have you made any friends yet?" Elizabeta asked worriedly.

"I don't know if I would call them friends, but there is a group of kids on the end of the table. They're alright. Malfoy annoys them too. "

"Good."

With this, Basch left the Gryffindor table and walked over to the end of the Slytherin one. Elizabeta tuned back into Harry's conversation. Hermione was telling them their schedules.

"We have the same classes as you three, then." Elizabeta exclaimed. She was glad to have people she knew in her classes.

"Oh, that's nice. We can show you to the classrooms." Hermione replied.

This was the end of the conversation, as many people at the table had dug into the food in front of them. The food was not bad, in fact, it was rather good, which made Elizabeta wonder why England himself was so bad at cooking. (Though she supposed some mysteries just couldn't be explained).

When their small group had finished, they packed their bags and went to their first class, which, according to Hermione, was History of Magic. Having been taught by England, she thought she knew what to expect.

She did not expect a ghost.

-Linebreak-

Basch was absolutely positive that he hated Slytherin. He understood why he was put there, as the traits Slytherin stood for fit him well, but the people... were less than pleasant. This wasn't the case for 'all' of the house. Just most of them. The first thing he was asked when he sat down at the table after the sorting was,

"So, are the Zwingli's, a powerful family in Germany?"

This was, of course, asked by a weasel faced blond boy. Basch, not understanding what was meant by the question, didn't answer. The other boy didn't like this, apparently, because he asked a follow up question.

"I mean, only purebloods get into Slytherin, so is your family well known in Germany?"

"Not really."

"Why not? Surely you'd want to advertise your power."

"... Not really. I'm not a pureblood."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm not a pureblood. I'm muggle born." This kid was really starting to annoy Basch.

Of course, to avoid suspicion, they would tell people they were muggle born. That way their ignorance about magic things wouldn't be strange. He couldn't just tell this kid that Basch didn't have parents, and that he didn't know if Germania or Gaul or Rome could use magic (they were the closest he had to parents, anyway).

"Really? Well, then you're better suited for Hufflepuff. All the muggles go there."

"Why does it matter? The sorting hat said I was a Slytherin, so now I'm here. I don't think I can tell the hat to change my house just because some kid thinks I'm not suited for it." Yes, this kid was definitely annoying him.

"But you're a mudblood. You're tainting Slytherin's reputation."

"Oh well. That changes everything now doesn't it." Basch hoped this kid understood sarcasm.

"... I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy, by the way."

"Great, it's been a pleasure meeting you." His tone stated that it was anything but a pleasure. The kid, now named Draco, huffed and turned to his goons. Basch continued eating until he was, yet again, interrupted by someone asking him questions.

"So, what's Germany like?"

Looking over to who asked, he saw a young looking girl with dark hair and light green eyes. Her head was tilted to one side, and she seemed genuinely curious.

"It's alright."

She leaned in to whisper to him, "'I'm muggle born, too." Then, she spoke up and said, "I'm Charlotte Walker, nice to meet you!"

"A pleasure. Basch Zwingli."

She smiled at him, and Basch thought that maybe this house wasn't so deplorable after all. They made quick friends, but Malfoy and Basch made quick enemies.

As they walked back to their common room, he overheard Draco telling the first year Slytherins about his family. Basch heard enough to know that the Malfoys were a powerful family, and that they held influence over many important things in the English Ministry of Magic. As soon as he could get away from Draco, he did.

It was a good night's rest, all things considered.

-Linebreak-

Roderich decided early on that he would try and make as many allies as possible. It would make it easier to get through the year. Granted, it would be even easier if he had one of the other nations in his house, but he couldn't complain. He seemed to be doing better than Basch anyway, who, after sitting down, was assaulted with questions that appeared to make him mad.

Ravenclaw was the house of wisdom and open mindedness. Roderich didn't think of himself as wise, but the open minded part was certainly true. Anyway, it was a good house, and the people were nice enough. One girl with long blonde hair, who he later learned was called Luna, warmed right up to him and started talking all about magical creatures he had definitely never heard of. Thinking it would be rude to tune her out or interrupt, he listened to what she had to say, which she seemed to appreciate. ' _Perhaps people don't usually listen to her_ ' he thought.

Luna ended her rant as abruptly as she began it, and then introduced him to the girl next to her. She had long black hair that went down her back in a plait, and tan skin that suggested she, or her parents, weren't from here. (After all, it was impossible to get a natural looking tan in England, there was just _never_ any sun). The girl was introduced as Padma Patil, the twin sister of a Gryffindor that was later pointed out to him. Roderich kept talking to these girls throughout the night, and kept talking even when they stood to lead the first years to their common room. He was still in conversation when they entered said room, and only stopped when they said goodnight.

Yes, Roderich quite enjoyed the Ravenclaw house.

-Linebreak-

Lilli was good with people.

It was a well known fact to all the nations that if she had the opportunity, she would jump right into conversations and be welcomed straight away. People just seemed to love her adorable looks and charming personality.

Ludwig was not so good with people.

For the most part, he followed Lilli around, joining in occasionally and answering questions when they were directed towards him. It wasn't that he was bad with people, he just never had to deal with this many. It made him uncomfortable, and he didn't feel uncomfortable very often.

Thankfully, Lilli took most of the questions and comments. She made sure people weren't staring at him for long. She knew when he wasn't comfortable with the amount of people talking to him, so she dealt with them, slowly bringing them away from him and towards her. It was actually somewhat unnerving, but he supposed Basch taught her to be observant. After the hype of new foreign students wore off, only a few still asked about where they were from and what it was like. One of these people was a girl with blonde hair, who Lilli told him was Hannah Abbott, one of the Hufflepuff prefects.

Hannah was kind enough, and, though Ludwig didn't intend to make friends while he was here, she grew on him. It couldn't hurt to be friendly with people.

"So you both have siblings in other houses, right?"

"Yes, my brother, Gilbert, is in Gryffindor. Lilli's brother, Basch, is in Slytherin." Ludwig told her.

"And you're all from Germany?"

"No, Lilli and Basch are from Switzerland, Elizabeta" he pointed Elizabeta out, "is from Hungary, and Roderich" again with the pointing, "is Austrian. Our school accepts people from across middle Europe."

"Like how Hogwarts accepts people from all around the British Isles."

"Exactly."

"Is it nice there? What's your school like?"

Lilli was the one to answer this time, "Germany is a nice place. Our school is really big, and there are a lot of students. We are broken up by year, though, not into houses like this. It gets really cold in the winter time, so the grounds freeze up and we have a big ice rink behind the building, it's really fun!"

Ludwig found it odd that she could come up with such vivid lies so quickly, and again wondered if Basch had taught her this. Lilli continued to tell Hannah about their non-existent school, going deeper and deeper into what the school was like at various times of year.

Ludwig might not be the perfect Hufflepuff, but Lilli certainly was.

-Linebreak-

Basch woke up early. He always did, so this was no surprise. He got up early, dressed quietly so as to not wake any of his roommates, and tried to find his way into the Great Hall for breakfast.

The castle was very large, as Basch found. Larger than most castle ruins in Europe, and it was completely intact, despite its age. The Slytherin common room was downstairs in the dungeons, so he had to climb many stairs and walk down many hallways to find the Hall. This gave him time to think. He wondered how Lilli was getting along with her house mates. He wasn't at all worried about her being in a different house, after all, she could protect herself. Plus, she had Ludwig with her. She would be absolutely fine.

He only took one wrong turn before finding the Great Hall. Of course, since it was so early, there were only a few people at the tables. He was the second Slytherin, and apparently the first nation to get to breakfast.

It was peaceful.

That peace didn't last for very long. Malfoy and his group of goons, which now included Pansy Parkinson, were approaching the Slytherin table. Considering Basch was one of two people sat down, it didn't take long for Malfoy to find him.

"Why are you up so early, mudblood?" He sneered. Basch was amused by the fact that Draco looked just as annoyed to see him as he was to see Draco.

"I could ask you the same."

"I don't see any of your friends around. Are they avoiding you?"

"Even if they were, at least I don't pay them to stick around."

"Hah, I don't need to pay anyone. They know that when purebloods rise to power again, my family will be one of the most powerful. They know what's good for them, right Crabbe, Goyle?" He smirked, and the boys on either side of him (' _beastly looking boys_ ' Basch thought) nodded.

"Well then. Good for you."

Malfoy must have realized that there was no point in tormenting Basch anymore, because he stormed away and sat down at the other end of the table. Then Elizabeta and Gilbert walked into the Great Hall, and Basch got up to talk to them. (Really, he was complaining, but that part isn't important) After assuring Elizabeta that he was talking to people that weren't biased weasels, he packed and went to his first class.

-Linebreak-

Roderich wasn't an early riser. He got grumpy in the mornings, and he didn't like it when people woke him up. Of course, his new housemates couldn't possibly know this. That was probably why he was shaken awake by a young boy telling him that breakfast was ending in thirty minutes. Upon hearing this, he sluggishly rolled out of bed, nearly hitting the boy, and rushed to put some clothes on.

He ran into the Great Hall with ten minutes until his first class. It wasn't his fault he got lost so often. Elizabeta and Gilbert were leaving the room, and none of the other nations were anywhere to be seen. Presumably, they had already left.

Roderich took a seat next to Luna, who looked at him questioningly but didn't say anything. He ate quickly, and let Luna drag him to their classroom.

-Linebreak-

Lilli usually woke up earlier than most. But this time, she just sort of... laid in bed for a while. It was so comfortable, and so nice and warm. She mused with the idea that the bed was enchanted to be this comfortable.

Unfortunately, Ludwig didn't seem to be as entranced by the beds, as he sent Hannah to get her out of bed (this brought up some questions, were boys not allowed in the girls' rooms?). Hannah almost had to drag Lilli out of bed, but eventually she got up, got dressed, and walked with Hannah and Ludwig to the Great Hall. She could see Elizabeta and Gilbert at the Gryffindor table, but Basch and Roderich weren't around. They must've gone to their classes already. Lilli ate a fair amount, but Ludwig didn't eat much. She wondered if he wasn't hungry, but it would've been rude to ask. Maybe he was nervous about his classes?

Hannah checked the time, yelped, and rushed then out of the Great Hall toward their first class.

-Linebreak-

And thus, a new school year officially began.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**I'm really proud of how this chapter came out, especially Austria's character. I don't know if he's in character or not, but I enjoyed writing him.**

 **Professor Umbridge and her idea of defense.**

Gilbert was completely, utterly, without a doubt bored. He and Elizabeta had the same class schedule as Harry, which meant that their first class was History of Magic. England taught them a lot on the subject, so he was expecting an easy history class like the ones in normal human schools. There was one major problem with that, though.

Normal human schools didn't hire ghosts to teach history.

At first Gilbert thought it was a joke. Yeah, hahaha, a ghost who was probably alive in the 1700's or whatever is teaching history. But no one else seemed to think it was funny, in fact, they all sat down and looked bored. Some even put their heads down on the desk. He realized why after the ghost, Mr. Binns, started to speak.

He had the most dull, monotonous voice Gilbert had ever heard. It was the kind of voice you would listen to before bed to help go to sleep. Now, Gilbert sat at his desk, swinging his legs, using a paper to write notes to Eliza with.

' _How did you sleep_ ' He pushed the paper to her.

' _Alright, you?_ ' She pushed it back.

' _Same. Didn't Arthur tell us about these wars?_ '

' _Yeah. What are Harry and them like?_ '

' _They're cool. Harry isn't really anything special from what I can see. Hermione is pretty smart, but I don't know much else about them._ '

' _Arthur wants us to keep an eye on them._ '

' _Yeah yeah, I know._ '

That was the end of the notes, because Binns had started assigning homework. Gilbert groaned, and followed Hermione to their next class.

"Next is double potions, which means we have it for an hour and a half instead just forty five minutes. We also have it with the Slytherins, so prepare yourself for that." She told them.

"That means we'll be with Basch!" replied Elizabeta.

"It also means we're with Malfoy." Ron grumbled.

The Slytherins were already in the potions room when they got there. Basch was at a station alone, so Gilbert joined him as Eliza joined Neville. Their teacher walked into the room a few minutes later, and told them that they were to follow the instructions on the board.

Potion making didn't require much effort or concentration, so he decided to ask Basch about this Malfoy kid that Ron seemed to hate.

"' _You know that kid you said was a weasel this morning?_ '" he said in German, that way they wouldn't have to worry about being overheard.

"' _Yes...what about him?_ '"

"' _The read head over there, Ron, apparently hates him. I was wondering if you would know why._ '"

"' _Maybe it's because he's a terrible person. Or maybe it's because he won't shut up about his family and purebloods and those sort of things. It could be anything._ '"

"' _Kesese, you're right._ '"

They continued on talking about nothing in particular until Snape came over to their station and told them their potion was near perfection. He watched as the liquid turned light blue when the final ingredient was put in, and gave them a vial to bottle up the concoction. Snape seemed impressed if nothing else. Gilbert walked with Basch to the Great Hall for lunch, and Elizabeta joined in as well, complaining about how Snape had treated Neville during class.

-Linebreak-

Harry didn't know what to make of Gilbert. He seemed almost egotistical at first, but he wasn't. At least, Harry didn't think he was. He was just... a paradox. Gilbert was responsible, he did all his work on time and did it well, but he was also mischievous and like to mess with people. He was so unlike everyone else Harry had met.

At least Elizabeta was simple. She was kind but bold, and made quick friends with pretty much everyone in Gryffindor. The first years found her motherly, and Neville thought she was extremely nice.

As for the rest of the transfer students, he only really ever saw Basch. Probably because the Gryffindors and Slytherins had some classes together. He was strange too. A Slytherin that didn't like Malfoy? It was unheard of.

But enough about them, Hermione was telling him that he had Divination next, which Harry was definitely not looking forward to. Most likely it would be another hour of listening to Professor Trelawney predict his horrific death, just as it had been last year. And to no one's surprise, that's exactly what it was.

-Linebreak-

Dolores Umbridge was having a fantastic first day of classes. Her students had been wonderful, no one had acted up, and she hadn't given out any detentions yet. She thought nothing could ruin this day.

That was of course, until she had to teach the fifth year Gryffindors. In with them came 'Harry Potter'. The Minister had not spoken highly of the Boy Who Lived, he said the boy had a tendency to start rumours and spread lies. When asked about these rumours, the Minister angrily proclaimed that Harry told other kids that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had returned, and that he sided with Dumbledore against the Ministry. Dolores being a Ministry witch herself (High Secretary, in fact. It was a job she was quite proud of) did not start off liking Harry.

This was the only class she had trouble teaching. Sure, other individuals thought her methods were insufficient for Defense Against the Dark Arts, but not one of them had outwardly opposed her like this boy and his friends had. He was definitely a bad influence to other students, as the minute he started spewing accusations and falsities, many others joined in as well.

First, Granger had questioned the Ministry's way of teaching the class, as though she could do any better. Then, Potter had said that they, the class, needed to be prepared to fight against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. As though anyone would attack students in the middle of class! Of course, the only thing that could stop the chaos that ensued was to give Potter a detention. It did not solve all of the problems, however, as Beilschmidt seemed to find tormenting Dolores enjoyable.

Beilschmidt stood up, raised his hand, and loudly said, "If you aren't going to teach us any actual Defense Against the Dark Arts then what's the point if taking this class?"

"Excuse me, Mr...?"

"Beilschmidt, Professor. I mean, the point of this class is to learn 'defense' against the dark arts, and all you've done is told us to read."

Dolores gave a lifeless laugh. "You will gain all the necessary information through reading the theory, Mr. Bilesmit. You do not need to know practical defense."

"Would you prefer 'protect oneself against' instead of defense? Or maybe 'learning how to avoid'? You know, since you don't like the word 'defense'? How can we learn to cast spells in the real world if we only every read about them?"

"If you read thoroughly enough, you should be able to pass your exams. Nothing is going to harm you in this class."

"But we won't always be in class." He stomped his foot, which Dolores thought made him look like a child throwing a tantrum.

"Detention, Mr. Bilesmit."

And with that, he finally sat down. The nerve of that boy. No doubt he was fooled by Potter's lies. Not wanting to disturb the good children who were _actually_ doing their work, she let the class continue with their reading and planned the week ahead.

-Linebreak-

Basch liked Potions.

It was probably the only class he had today that he enjoyed. And it wasn't because Snape was the teacher and Snape was also the head of Slytherin house. No, it was meticulous work.

And Basch liked meticulous work.

Everything mattered in Potions. If you got one small thing wrong, didn't stir it long enough or didn't cut the root the right way, the whole potion ended up a disaster. If one thing went wrong, everything was ruined. It required complete attention, which kept his mind off other less desirable things (although Gilbert didn't seem to want to pay complete attention).

Yes, it was his favourite class, and he hadn't even been to some of them yet. Plus, Snape did look impressed as he passed Basch's cauldron, which was a bonus.

One major downside, though it was for every class, was that he had to be in the same room as Malfoy. He hadn't let off Basch yet, but he had tried new approaches. Among these were "You're really more fit for the pushover muggles in Hufflepuff, I don't know what the sorting hat was thinking." and "Can't you go stink up someone else's common room, mudblood?". Malfoy was convinced that he could find _something_ , _anything_ to get Basch riled up. This downside was countered by the fact that Charlotte was in all of his classes. She was growing on him, and he didn't usually make friends.

All in all, the school year started out well, even if one member of his house was an absolute git.

-Linebreak-

Lilli loved Care for Magical Creatures. She loved learning about new animals, and that love was doubled when she found out that said animals had magical abilities. Many of them were beautiful or strong or majestic or just plain amazing. She couldn't 'imagine' a better class.

Ludwig didn't share her sentiments, that was clear. He was almost apprehensive around the creatures brought in, as though they would reach out and scratch him. She was curious though...

"What was your favourite class today, Ludwig?"

"I liked charms. It was rather fascinating."

"It was, wasn't it. It makes me wonder if wizards use magic for everything."

"I imagine adults do. I don't see a reason not to."

She hummed and turned to the fire. They were in the Hufflepuff common room, which had a perpetual golden glow and a fire that was always burning. It was very comfortable and inviting, as though it wanted you to stop and spend time there. It was just another thing Lilli loved about this castle, about this school. She definitely felt like she made the right decision to come here, and the girl hoped her fellow nations felt the same.

Then, two of her housemates entered the common room, muttering under their breath.

"Never gunna learn anything... pass O. ...she's a nutter, that Umbridge..."

None of this made sense to Lilli, but she knew Umbridge was the name of the DADA teacher. Lilli heard many students talking about her all day, saying similar things of displeasure, especially the Gryffindors. Apparently, Umbridge wasn't well liked. Lilli didn't have her class until Wednesday, so she would have to wait and see what the teacher was like for herself.

"What about you?" Ludwig asked suddenly. He's face was illuminated by the firelight, making him look strangely disfigured. The question caught her off guard.

"Hmm?"

"What was your favourite class?"

"Oh! I really enjoyed Care for Magical Creatures! The pixies were so beautiful!"

Ludwig smiled, "Yes, they were."

-Linebreak-

Out of all of his classes, Roderich couldn't deny he liked Potions the best. It wasn't that it was enjoyable, but it reminded him of playing the piano. Follow the instructions and make the art. If anything goes wrong, it ruins the song, you would have to start over. Thinking about it only made him miss making music. It made him miss his home, his piano.

Most of all, Roderich missed his piano.

This castle inspired him to create new songs. It was so grand, so majestic, so unusual. There were secret passageways everywhere, and the statues jumped out at passerbys. Sometimes, he would walk by an empty portrait that he was sure had a person in it before. And the stairways moved on their own, occasionally halting your journey to class.

It would make such a beautiful song.

He was just thinking of this when he passed a painting on the seventh floor for the third time (he had to double back a few times, this was why he needed someone _else_ to do the navigating) when a door just... appeared. Curious, he peeked inside.

There was a piano... _there was a piano!_

Roderich jumped into motion, sitting on the stool and placing his fingers gingerly on the keys...

He was going to compose a piece so like this castle. Unusual, beautiful, grand. It was going to be _perfect_.


	14. Chapter Thirteen Bonus!

**Okay, so, this wasn't a chapter I had written, nor was I planning to write it, but anthony111 asked if I would do a chapter with the others reacting to Umbridge, and i was inspired to write this immediately.**

 **Can you even call this a class?**

Lilli quickly decided that Umbridge was the most boring teacher at the school. Even more so than Professor Binns.

At least Professor Binns actually taught. Umbridge merely told them to read a passage and did who knows what while they read. This was only the first class, though, so things would get better, right?

Right?

Lilli was a fast reader, so she finished early. When she asked Umbridge what she was to do, she was told to "simply read it again".

So read it again she did. Lilli looked for anything in the passages that she could have missed the first time, but she couldn't find anything.

There was no point in bothering the teacher again. She would just tell Lilli to read more thoroughly. Lilli had more than a few questions.

How were they supposed to learn from just reading?

Why was a teacher so opposed to teaching?

Why wasn't anything else planned for this class?

Pondering these questions was actually more entertaining than rereading the same thing over and over again. Go figure.

Lilli was bored, so she decided to take out a quill and parchment. Unfortunately, Umbridge saw this.

"What are you doing, Miss...?"

"Zwingli, Professor. I wanted to take notes on the chapter."

Umbridge nodded, she seemed impressed. Lilli had no intentions of writing notes, she wanted to draw. Careful to not make long strokes with the quill lest Umbridge realised she was not, in fact, taking notes, she started drawing the owls that brought her here.

-Linebreak-

Ludwig wasn't one to start trouble. He didn't want to say anything when Professor Umbridge assigned a small chapter from their books to read during the entire class period.

He didn't want to badmouth anyone, but he had to say that this was possibly the most boring class Ludwig had ever attended. After reading the chapter three times and jotting notes down on a piece of parchment, he was perplexed.

What was he supposed to do now? Looking over to Lilli, he saw her intricate drawings. Ludwig did not enjoy drawing or writing. He did enjoy reading. Would it be alright to read ahead? He raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr...?"

"Beilschmidt, I was wondering if I could read ahead, onto further chapters?"

She was taken aback, "I, why, yes, I suppose so."

"Thank you, Professor."

He turned to the next page and started reading. This chapter was not anymore interesting than the last one. He didn't understand.

Was this England's idea of a defense class?

-Linebreak-

Roderich didn't hate people very often. He found that it required way too much energy to hate someone, or even something.

He would rather put effort into hating Umbridge's class than put effort into reading the assigned chapter. It was just too bland, too boring, it was almost meaningless.

If they spent this class time actually learning, imagine the progress they would make! Instead, they were sat at desks and hunched over thick books.

Roderich almost wanted to ask if there was anything else he could do. Though, it was likely to get him in trouble, which he definitely didn't want to do.

Roderich spent most of the class time staring at his book. He wasn't reading it, nor was he seeing the words in front of him. He was composing a song in his head about how much he loathed this class.

Most of the piece was composed of violent key smashing.

-Linebreak-

Basch usually had something meaningful planned for every part of each day. Even the smallest things had purpose. Rearranging books make them easier to find, writing things down makes them easier to memorize, sorting things makes them easier to put away.

He thought the same when Umbridge assigned them chapter reading. It must make learning the actual spells easier. The information might be on their big tests, what were they called? The Owls?

For such a long class, the chapter was surprisingly short. Not wanting to waste time, he raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr...?"

"Zwingli, ma'am. I've finished the chapter. What am I to do now?"

"Have you read it thoroughly, Mr. Zwingli?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Then you may read on."

Read on he did. But there was on small problem. The book was extremely dull. Basch found himself zoning out here and there.

This class was almost certainly meaningful. It had to be.

-Linebreak-

Elizabeta was tired.

Not because she didn't sleep, but because this woman though they could learn complex spells from reading about them. That's just not how learning works. You can't just...

You can't just read something and magically know it. That's where Elizabeta drew the line. There may have been spells for conjuring water, setting things ablaze, opening locked doors, or even paralysing people, but there was _not_ a spell for magically knowing how to perform spells.

That much she knew.

Yes, Elizabeta was tired of this class, this woman.

-Linebreak-

Gilbert knew the woman seemed fishy at the opening feast. He knew her presence meant nothing good.

His theory was proven during her class. She was adamant that they didn't need to learn any actual defense, okay cool, fine. But why become a DEFENSE Against the Dark Arts teacher if you weren't going to teach any defense.

He wanted to bang his head on the desk. After thousands of years, this one woman was going to drive him insane.

-Linebreak-

Needless to say, none of the transfer students enjoyed Umbridge's class.

None of them were looking forward to having her again.


	15. Chapter Fourteen

**I have a sneaking suspicion that something's wrong here.**

The next week not a good one for Dolores Umbridge. She did not enjoy having to supervise detentions. That did not mean she wouldn't give them out, especially if the child in question needed a little... straightening up. That was the case for young Harry Potter and Gilbert Beilschmidt (after having the latter's brother in one of her Wednesday classes, she could say that Gilbert was _definitely_ the delinquent child of the family).

The first detention was the worst. They came into her office late afternoon. She sat them down and situated them with the quills and paper, and told them to Potter and Beilschmidt to write 'I must not tell lies' and 'I must not talk back to teachers' respectively.

"How many times, professor?" Potter asked.

Dolores smiled, "Oh, just until the message sinks in, that should do."

"But you haven't given us any ink." She was starting to find Potter rather annoying.

"You won't be needing any."

She heard Beilschmidt mutter an 'yes, ma'am' under his breath. Ignoring the sarcastic tone he used, she kept smiling as she sat down. Now all she had to do was to wait for the message to… _sink in_.

It didn't take long for Potter to cry out in pain. He looked dubious about continuing, but Dolores nodded and he seemed to get the idea. The albino boy, however, didn't cry out throughout the entire session. He definitely had the marks in his hand spelling out the phrase he was told to write, but it didn't seem to hurt him at all.

She stood suddenly and examined Potter's hand. It was bleeding a little, but there was still work to do. She didn't see the appeal of keeping the boys here for the whole night, though, so they were sent off and told to come back tomorrow.

-Linebreak-

Elizabeta was appalled.

How could that vile woman do something like this to _anyone_ , let alone to her students? Umbridge was officially one of Elizabeta's least favourite people. The woman was vile, repulsive, horrible, cruel, and downright sadistic. Elizabeta would have to warn the others about her.

In the meantime, she had to figure out how to get Gilbert to sit down.

"I'm telling you, Eliza, she's the perfect target!"

"Yes, but she could also make the perfect enemy. Besides, didn't Arthur want to know if anything happened. We should write him a letter, come on Gil."

"He can wait, a few more minutes won't kill 'im. Don't you see, a few stink bombs would do her well. It might even make her room less of an eye sore."

"Arthur even told us to not get in trouble, Gilbert. Your hand's bleeding again, let me see it." She grabbed his right hand and bandaged it once more.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, but even _Artie_ would want us to show her hell." He started to stand, pulling his hand away and ruining his bandages in the process.

" _Sit down, Gilbert._ " She yanked him back down, none too gently. "You're being absolutely _ridiculous_. You will do _nothing_ to her lest you want me to tell Arthur that you've been causing trouble. 'Do you understand me?'"

Gilbert sighed loudly,"You're no fun Eliza...". He made a pouty face.

"Oh, boo-hoo. Now, come help me write that letter."

-Linebreak-

Harry wanted to tell his friends what Umbridge had done, but Gilbert must have beaten him to it, because Hermione tried to comfort him.

"Oh, Harry, I heard what she did to you. Oh, that horrible woman, she know blood quills are illegal! She works for the Ministry, too, so she would know exactly how wrong she was! Oh, Harry, you have to tell someone-"

"No."

"I...what, Harry, you've got to. It's illegal." She sounded legitimately worried. Her brows were furrowed.

"No, no I can't. You can't. Please, don't any of you tell anyone." He could hear Gilbert and Elizabeta talking in the corner of the Gryffindor common room. They weren't being any quieter than Hermione was. Harry wasn't listening, but their talk must have ended, because they both stood up and went up the stairs to the boy's rooms.

"...Okay, Harry. I don't understand, but if you don't want us to tell anyone, we won't, right, Ron?" Ron, who was beside Hermione but had yet to say anything, nodded. Harry noted that Ron looked strangely pale as he looked at the words on Harry's hand.

"Why don't we get some rest, you two?" Hermione tried to ease the tension.

"Yeah, yeah we should." Harry agreed. They all stood simultaneously and he and Ron said good night to Hermione as she climbed the stairs to the girl's rooms.

-Linebreak-

England read their letter with an eagerness, he was looking forward to almost... experiencing Hogwarts again through the Germanics and Hungary. This eagerness was quickly dispelled when he got halfway through the letter.

 _Dear Arthur,_

 _You told us to tell you what was happening, so that's what this letter is for. Gilbert and I were placed in Gryffindor, Roderich is in Ravenclaw, Ludwig and Lilli are in Hufflepuff, and Basch is in Slytherin. Gilbert has gotten somewhat close with Harry and his friends in the past week, but he says that Harry doesn't seem like anything special yet._

 _He and Harry did manage to get themselves into detention with the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Umbridge. I think you'll be interested to learn that she's a Ministry witch. I don't know why she's here, but anyway, Gil and Harry had to do lines. The only problem is that she had them use quills that wrote the words into the backs of their hands. I heard Hermione call them 'blood quills' or something. Gil came back with his hand bleeding._

 _That's pretty much all that's been going on lately. It's been a fairly eventful first week or so. I hope you're still doing well over there._

 _I'll keep you up to date on new happenings._

 _Elizabeta_

The so called Arthur was shocked. He had many, many questions.

First of all, what is a Ministry witch doing at Hogwarts? As the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?

Secondly, what was she doing using blood quills? Anyone from the Ministry would know that they were illegal and cruel.

Thirdly, although significantly less important, why were Harry and Prussia in detention? It wasn't even one month into the school year.

Lastly, he could have _sworn_ he told them everything about Harry Potter, so why did Prussia not see anything in the boy? Although, no, he definitely told about Harry. This question was extremely trivial, and England knew it. He just felt slightly insulted, as if Prussia thought his teaching wasn't sufficient.

He was not hoping that the letter he received would make him this confused. He was hoping for a normal year, despite the _small_ problem of Voldemort's return.


	16. Chapter Fifteen

**The first High Inquisitor of Hogwarts School.**

The day after Elizabeta sent Arthur the update letter, a new change occurred in Hogwarts.

The Ministry officially named Umbridge 'High Inquisitor', allowing her to supervise classes and inspect teachers. They posted Educational Decree Number 23 to the Gryffindor post board, although Eliza knew that it must have been tacked to the other houses' post boards as well. Neville, who had been in the common room waiting for her to come down, seemed extremely upset by this.

"What do you think it means?" He looked concerned.

"I don't know. Maybe she just wants to make sure everyone is prepared for their exams." She tried to reassure him, and it must have worked, because he relaxed a bit and said,

"Yeah, you're probably right. Come on, let's get to the Great Hall." He grabbed Elizabeta's hand and gently pulled her in the direction of the exit. She laughed and let him pull her out of the common room.

Her first inspected class was on Monday, in Divination. For the most part, Umbridge watched and asked about the teacher, Professor Trelawney (who wasn't Elizabeta's favourite teacher in the school, but wasn't the worst either (*coughcough Professor Umbridge coughcough*)).

The inspection became serious once Umbridge asked the professor if she could predict something. Elizabeta didn't think this was fair, she was sure prophecies didn't work that way. But Umbridge was incessant, and when she didn't hear any predictions she started to leave. The professor became nervous at her leaving, because she clearly created something on the spot. This didn't satisfy Umbridge, and she smiled and climbed down the tower.

Elizabeta wasn't a hateful person. She really wasn't. And up until this point she didn't _hate_ Umbridge. She thought the teacher was wrong in morals and lessons, but she didn't hate her.

Of course, that was just another thing that changed that week. Elizabeta could not help but hate Professor Umbridge.

Umbridge did not get better throughout the next month. She continued to ask personal questions to the teachers with an almost smug look on her face. Trelawney handled this the worst, because many of the other teachers weren't as fazed as she was. They merely answered her questions and carried on with whatever lesson they were on that day.

This didn't stop any of the students for thinking Umbridge was a terrible teacher. Many students muttered under their breaths about how her lessons were pointless and boring. Hermione kept badgering Harry about making a club or something,

At some point during the first week of October, Hermione approached Elizabeta and Gilbert.

"Harry has something to say on the subject of defense, so if you want to hear it, meet at the Hog's Head in Hogsmead. Bring your friends if you think they want to listen too."

Gilbert looked sceptical. "We'll think about it."

Hermione tried her hardest to look serious, and nodded to them before leaving.

"Well, that was something." Gilbert said, looking at Elizabeta.

"Indeed it was. Do you think we should go?"

"I think we could at least check it out. Besides, isn't being in clubs part of the school experience?"

"I suppose so. Do you want to tell Ludwig?"

"Yeah, and Roderich too!"

"I do not think that is a good idea. We don't need him to be annoyed with you."

"Ehh, he's always like that." He gestured vaguely. She signed

"Fiiiiine, you may tell him, as long as you don't do anything stupid. I'll tell Lilli and Basch."

They agreed to tell their fellow nations in the morning, and went to bed.

-Linebreak-

To say Ludwig was surprised when Gilbert approached him in the morning was an exaggeration.

It was true, neither of them had much time to talk to each other, but Gilbert was always making faces across the Great Hall at him, or making silly gestures that were impossible to decipher.

Still, Gilbert's question was rather surprising. "So, you want to come with Eliza and I to the Hog's Head during the next Hogsmead trip or not? Hello, Bruder, are you listening to me!?"

"Yes, I am, I apologize. What for?"

Gilbert leaned in and whispered, "to join a cult."

"... What kind of cults are you getting involved in?"

"It's a defense club, that's all I know. Lizzie and I are going to check it out."

"... I can come, seeing as how I don't have much to do over the weekends. Speaking of which, you have been doing your homework, haven't you? You know it's important and that your teach..."

-Linebreak-

"So, what is this about, exactly?"

Elizabeta had managed to corner both Lilli and Basch at once. She did not waste any time in asking them if they wanted to tag along.

"Well, Hermione told us that it is for a new defense club, but that's all she said."

"Why would she not want you to know more about it? Surely giving more information would get more people to come?" Eliza always liked talking with Lilli. She brought up good points and flaws in her plans.

"I don't know, really. Maybe she didn't want Umbridge to know about it, because she didn't ask permission for it to be formed, I don't think. So, is that a yes?

The two blonds looked at each other, nodded, and turned back to Elizabeta.

"That's a yes for me!" Lilli exclaimed.

"As for me." Basch agreed.

-Linebreak-

Gilbert had a hard time getting to Roderich. He was never in the Great Hall when Gil was. They didn't have any classes together. The only hope Gil had was dinner.

Everyone was at dinner.

So at the first available opportunity, Gilbert sauntered off towards the Ravenclaw table and squeezed himself between 'Roddy and some blonde chick'. He leaned into 'Roddy' and asked, rather loudly,

"Do you want to go with me to Hogsmead this weekend?"

"First off, ow. Second, what makes you think that I do?"

Still leaned in he asked, "We're meeting Lizzie and Basch and Luddy and Lilli there too, I think."

"For what?" He looked dubious.

"I don't know, some club thing." Gilbert shrugged.

Roderich sighed deeply, "I guess I can make time for you."

"That was hurtful Roddy."

"Your voice is hurtful. Get away from my ear."

-Linebreak-

"So, what if we made a 'Mess With Umbridge' club? Like, we could play pranks on her. Really subtle things, so that she thinks she's going mad!"

"That's a _stupid_ idea Gil."

"Oh come on, it would be fun. It's not like she doesn't deserve it."

"It's still stupid."


	17. Chapter Sixteen

**Okay so, this is the last chapter I have already written, so updates are going to slow down, especially since my motivation for pretty much everything is kind of really low right now.**

 **Also, I was thinking of updating whenever a new chapter is ready instead of trying to follow a schedule. That way I don't disappoint myself and anyone reading when I don't post on time.**

 **Also also, the first chapter of my superhuman/mutant Au is up, if anyone wants to check that out. It might end up being a bit dark, and it might not be updated very frequently, but I'm pretty excited about it!**

 **Maybe having the first club meeting in a sketchy pub isn't a good idea.**

Hogsmead was a cold, but beautiful place, Ludwig decided. It had long streets and shops of all sizes that lit up the area around them. It was a quaint little village.

He didn't want to get out of bed in the morning, especially when he felt the cold air surrounding his bed. He shared a room with two nice boys that he barely talked to. One of them might have been named Jonathan, but he couldn't be sure.

Unfortunately, he felt guilty after staying in bed for even five extra minutes, and got up anyway despite his mood. After a filling breakfast, he and Lilli met up with the others and set off for Hogsmead.

The line to get out of the school was long, and apparently Gilbert did not enjoy having to wait.

"What's taking them so long? It's not like we're carrying something 'illegal' or anything!" He whined.

"I'm sure they're just making sure everyone has their necessary paperwork in order. With everything Arthur said about Death Eaters" people looked his way and glared "and such maybe they had to increase security."

"Yeah, but still, they should conduct their searches _fasteeeerr_. I'm _bored_ , Luddy."

"And what do you want me to do about that, Gilbert?" Ludwig raised an eyebrow.

" _Entertain_ me, that's what brothers are supposed to do." Ludwig loved his brother, but sometimes Gilbert got on his nerves.

"Mmhm..." Ludwig tuned him out and turned to Basch.

"How is your house?"

"Hmm? Oh, it's alright. Kind of cold."

"In what way?"

"Both. All of them. The common room has a green tint to it and it's cold in every sense, even though it has a fireplace."

"Isn't your common in the dungeons?"

"Mmhm, yeah it is." He nodded and this was the end of that conversation. Through time Ludwig learned to tell when Basch was done talking to someone.

He heard Gilbert whining to Roderich when they got to Mr. Filch. Filch looked over their papers and made sure they were on the list to leave, and soon finished with them.

Hogsmead was alive with activity. Students of every house were walking around, going in and out of stores and pubs. One such pub seemed to be quite busy.

The Hog's Head wasn't as welcoming as the village it was part of. It was dark and musty and it seemed like the place in movies where weapons or sketchy items would be traded. They came in and settled behind Ernie MacMillan, drinking butterbeer (at which Gilbert was disappointed that the drink wasn't _actually_ beer) and waited for the meeting to start.

Hermione didn't seem very confident at first, pausing here and there to collect her thoughts. Halfway through her speech, around when she started badmouthing Umbridge, her voice became stronger and she relaxed some.

"Because Lord Voldemort is back."

People didn't react well to this. Someone screamed, Neville coughed, and there was a splash of butterbeer.

"Well... that's the plan anyway. If you want to join us, we need to decide how we're going to-"

"What's the proof that You-know-Who's back?" said someone.

"Well, Dumbledore believes it-"

"You mean, Dumbledore believe _him_."

"Who are _you_?" Ron asked none too politely.

"Zacharias Smith, and I think we've got the right to know what exactly makes _him_ say You-know-Who's back." said Zacharias.

 _'Maybe the fact that England himself told us'_ Ludwig thought.

"Look," Hermione said rather pointedly, "that's really not what this meeting was supposed to be about-"

"It's okay, Hermione." Harry had a strange look of realization on his face. "What makes me say You-know-Who's back? I saw him. But Dumbledore told the whole school what happened last year, and if you didn't believe him, you don't believe me, and I'm not wasting an entire afternoon trying to convince anyone."

Zacharias apparently wanted the last word, because even though that should have been the end of it, he said," All Dumbledore told us last year was that Cedric Diggory got killed by You-know-Who and that you brought Diggory's body back to Hogwarts."

This was all news to Ludwig. England hadn't said anything about a death in the school. Ludwig felt like this should have been explained to them before they came to Hogwarts.

Zacharias continued, "He didn't give us details, he didn't tell us exactly how Diggory got murdered, I think we'd all like to know-"

Harry was close to exploding, "If you've come to hear exactly what it looks like when Voldemort murders someone I can't help you. I don't want to talk about Cedric Diggory, all right? So if that's what you're here for, you might as well clear out."

No one moved. Not one person got up to leave. Hermione spoke up again,

"So, so... like I was saying... if you want to learn some defense, then we need to work out how we're going to-"

She was interrupted yet again.

"Is it true you can produce a Patronus?"

People started murmuring.

"Yeah." said Harry.

"A corporeal Patronus?"

The girl who interrupted Hermione turned out to be Susan Bones. She said Harry's Patronus was a stag.

"And did you kill a basilisk with that sword in Dumbledore's office?"

"Er-yeah, I did, yeah."

People made various sounds of being impressed. Ludwig hadn't heard about this either.

"And in our first year, he saved that Sorcerous Stone-"

"Sorcerer's."

"Yeah, that, from You-Know-Who."

"And that's not to mention all the tasks he had to get through in the Triwizard Tournament last year-getting past dragons and merpeople and acromantulas and things..."

People were definitely impressed. Harry was slightly red-faced.

"Look, I... I don't want to sound like I'm trying to be modest or anything but... I had a lot of help with all that stuff..."

"Not with the dragon, you didn't. That was a seriously cool bit of flying..." Someone said. Harry didn't seem to want to disagree.

"And nobody helped you get rid of those dementors this summer." Susan Bones said.

"Are you just trying to weasel out of showing us any of this stuff?" Zacharias said smugly.

Ron told him off rather loudly. Zacharias said something else, which must have made people mad, because two identical boys with hair similar to Ron's pulled out a lethal looking tool.

"Yes, well, moving on... the point is, are we agreed we want to take lessons from Harry?"

Everyone agreed, and Hermione began to set a day for their first defense meeting. Afterwards, Ludwig learned that the Ministry thought Dumbledore was organizing an army to fight against the Ministry. Honestly, where did they come up with that?

The rest of the meeting was spent trying to figure out a time and place for their next meeting. Hermione had everyone sign a peace of parchment before she let them go.

"Why didn't Arthur tell us any of that. You know, the things Harry did?" Gilbert asked.

"Maybe he forgot. Or just didn't think it was important at the time." Ludwig answered.

"Yeah, well, I think it's very important. Now I feel stupid thinking Harry wasn't anything special."

-Linebreak-

Two days later, all clubs were disbanded and unauthorized clubs were now illegal, according to Educational Decree Number 24.

Many members of the defense club were panicking, walking over to Hermione and Harry during breakfast to find out what they were going to do.

Of course, Harry wasn't about to stop just because some Ministry witch told him to.


	18. Chapter Seventeen

**Okay, so… I Basically bullied myself into writing the first paragraph of this chapter. I re-write it like, four times because I didn't like how it came out. Though, I eventually got the hang of writing again, and the rest of this chapter appeared. I think I've gotten some motivation back, so updates might be more frequent than I thought. This is still a bit shorter than I'd like it but whatever.**

 **I also haven't written anything for this story (with the exception of the chapter 13 bonus) since March, so it might seem a bit off.**

 **I'd also like to thank Schattenfluch for the really nice review, it caught me at a low point in my day and made me smile, so thank you.**

 **The Magical Room With Really Arbitrary Rules About Accessing It.**

Gilbert told Roderich that Harry's owl had been attacked by Umbridge some days earlier. This made the nations worry. How were they to notify Arthur what was going on? Luckily, they had so much homework and other things to worry about that none of them paid it much mind. Arthur could wait.

-Linebreak-

Roderich was not looking forward to the second defense club meeting. Sure, it was bound to be interesting, but he wasn't all that great a magic and if anything, it would give Gilbert an excuse to make fun of him. Fortunately, the meeting was postponed until they found a place to hold said meeting.

Unfortunately, they found that place pretty quickly. He was told to visit the seventh floor, near a portrait of some wizard (Elizabeta had surely told him who was painted, but he had a habit of forgetting names). He was to pass it three times asking in his head for a place to practice defense against the dark arts in secret.

He met up with Ludwig, Lilli and Basch (who was so petty as to refuse to acknowledge Roderich's arrival) and they followed the instructions given, trying to look casual (about as casual as one can when walking in circles).

On the third time, a large ornate door appeared. Roderich had seen this exact same thing happen earlier in the year!

He had seen the room appear when he really wanted his piano! Did the wizards create a room that only shows itself when you really need it? But then why would you have to walk past it three times?

They entered the new room and found about a dozen other people already there, including Gilbert and Elizabeta. The room no longer held a piano and books filled with sheet music. Instead, shelves of thick, dusty books lined the walls. Some shelves held frightening looking devices that whirled and whizzed around on their stands, and the floor was littered with pillows.

Roderich was taking everything in when the meeting started. He would have looked for longer, but Elizabeta elbowed him in the side as everyone started raising their hands. What were they doing that for? Oh, shoot, what had he missed? He raised his hand, not wanting to be left out.

Harry was blushing a bit. "Er- right, thanks. And- _what_ , Hermione?"

"I also think we ought to have a name. It would promote a feeling of team spirit and unity, don't you think?" She must have thought this out.

People started throwing out suggestions for club names. The Anti-Umbridge League, the Ministry of Magic Are Morons Group, and the Defense Association, the last of which was approved of by many. Then, someone threw out Dumbledore's Army due to the Ministry's fear of Dumbledore and his nonexistent army.

Hermione asked for a vote, and pretty much everyone put their hands up. Roderich liked the idea of naming the club after the Ministry's worst fears, it seemed to fit with what they were doing, which was defying the Ministry.

Harry started issuing instructions in an uncomfortable manner. Maybe he hadn't been in a position of authority before? Nevertheless, he told them to divide into pairs, and he obliged, perhaps a bit to late, because Lilli had paired with Elizabeta, and Ludwig was with Gilbert. That left Basch, who looked at Roderich as though Roderich was the last person he would want to talk to.

Reluctantly, Roderich asked if he wanted to partner up. Basch agreed, and they took positions opposite each other.

"One... two... three!"

Roderich's wand was immediately thrown from his hand into a pile of books behind him. Basch looked smug. The next time Harry said "three" however, Basch's smile was wiped off his face as his wand went flying. Roderich was the one to look smug, now.

They went on like this for quite some time and, although both would say otherwise, Roderich and Basch enjoyed the back and forth spell casting. Roderich could here Lilli and Elizabeta laughing beside him, and Gilbert was being his usual loud self. Even Ludwig was smiling. This was the happiest he had seen any of them in a long while.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end (Roderich really disliked that phrase). Before anyone knew it, it was past nine at night and past their curfew. They were allowed to leave in groups based on their houses, Basch left first by himself, considering he was the only Slytherin, and then the Lilli, Ludwig, and the Hufflepuffs.

Roderich and the Ravenclaw were the next to leave, and he met up with Luna on their way to the common rooms.

"Interesting lesson, huh." She whispered.

"Mmhm." He hummed. "Very interesting."

"You seemed to know what you were doing. You and the Slytherin were both quite good."

"Thank you. You were quite good as well."

She laughed, "you didn't see me, but thank you anyway."

He smiled, "You're quite right. I didn't have the opportunity to see how you were doing, but I am sure you did well."

She grinned widely. "Thank you. For someone of your kind, you're rather nice!"

Roderich's heart stopped.


	19. Chapter Eighteen

**Thus chapter went half written for a while due to exams and stuff, and now that those have cleared there will probably be more chapters posted. Please don't expect updates to be scheduled or anything, I'm trying I promise.**

 **Also, there might be typos and stuff all throughout this chapter because I'm posting it from mobile. This chapter also contains some of my own headcannons, so enjoy!**

 **We weren't prepared for something like this.**

"S-someone of my kind?" He tried to act confused, though seeing as how he was internally panicking it was extremely difficult.

"Of course!" She was still whispering, "But, I don't think you want such a topic discussed in the open?"

"If you think so, then sure." He thought he was doing a good job at acting like he had no idea what she was talking about, but apparently not. She didn't realise his internal dilemma, and pulled him along towards their common room.

They did not talk about it when they got to the Ravenclaw common room. Instead, Luna said her good night's and headed to bed, leaving him in the room to have a mental break down.

The Ravenclaw common room was a spacious room with huge windows. They had beautiful views if the Hogwarts grounds at every time of day, and tonight the stars were bright and almost ethereal. The room itself had a tall domed roof that was painted with those same stars. Usually, they were a comfort to him, but tonight they weren't.

Tonight they just seemed ominous.

-Linebreak-

Roderich woke up to an almost empty room. Not one of his roommates were in there, though they never were. They always woke up way before he did and left before he could roll out of bed. The only person in there besides him was Luna. She was holding out a platter of breakfast.

He hopped out of bed and pushed past Luna into to bathroom to get dressed. It took about twenty minutes, and when he came out Luna was still sitting on one of the beds next to his. She looked up at him with wide eyes.

"I brought you some breakfast."

"Why are you here? Furthermore, this is a boys room, how did you get in here?"

"Girls are allowed in the boys rooms. I thought you might want to talk someplace private." She looked around as if taking in the room. It was rather plain in Roderich's opinion, just four large beds and some bedside tables.

"Talk about what?" He asked, taking the platter from Luna.

"You and your friends." She said.

"What about my friends and I?" He tried to put his act in again. He grabbed a pastry and took a bite.

"What you are. My father told me about your kind when I was younger. He said you were aggressive and short tempered. But you are different." She tilted her head to one side.

"And what, exactly, are we?"

"My father calls you anthropomorphic national personifications. More simply put, nations." She said this as though it was indisputable fact. It was, of course, but she didn't know that yet.

Roderich gave a nervous laugh, "right, okay. Do you have reason to think that I am one of those?"

"... I can see your aura. Almost feel it." Her stare was unnerving.

"... You have to promise not to tell anyone, okay?"

"Of course. Not that anyone would believe me, anyway."

"Okay, okay, okay," Roderich took a deep breath, "you aren't wrong. You're actually quite right, we are nations."

"May I ask which ones?"

"I am Austria, Elizabeta is Hungary, Gilbert is Prussia, Ludwig is Germany, Lilli is Liechtenstein, and Basch is Switzerland."

"I see. So, why are you here at Hogwarts?"

"We are assisting a friend."

"A friend like you?"

"Yes, Arthur. Or England."

"Why couldn't England himself come here?"

"He has been forbidden by your Ministry. He must have interfered many times to get banned like that."

Luna nodded, her eyes were unfocused, but she was definitely listening. She was an oddity, Luna, but Roderich found her interesting. She made for good conversation, at least.

"Why did you not," Luna asked, "just tell everyone what you are?"

"Because we made a decision long ago to only tell humans on a need to know basis. Or if they are close to figuring it out."

"... Why?"

"It's for the best. We didn't want to be blamed or worshipped as we were, so we started hiding. That was such a long time ago, of course, many of us do not actively hide ourselves anymore. Though we still agree that it shouldn't be advertised.

"I understand. Many other creatures hide from us because of what we have done to them..." Her eyes focused on the ground

"It takes a special kind of person to see them."

"... People think I'm insane. They call me Looney Luna, and say nasty things behind my back." She held her eyes on the ground.

"I do not think you are insane... or looney. I just think you are different. And trust me, people make fun of those who are different."

"... Thank you..." She gave a sad smile, as sad as she could with her perpetual look of wonder. "We should probably get to class."

"Yes, certainly. Thank you for the breakfast, Luna."

"You're very welcome, Austria."

-Linebreak-

It was lunchtime before Roderich could tell any of his fellow nations about Luna and the conversation he shared with her. He told Elizabeta first, believing her to be among the most responsible, and told her to tell Basch and Gilbert (he may or may not have chosen who she would tell based on who he did not want to talk to) and he would alert Ludwig and Lilli.

Conveniently, they sat at the same table, so that meant less work for Roderich. He pulled them aside and told them in German. Both of them were thoroughly surprised when he told them.

"How could she have known?" Ludwig asked.

"I'm not entirely sure, but I have an idea. I want to ask Arthur what he thinks, but with the mail being checked..."

"You could always write the letter in German. I don't think Umbridge would bother to learn it." Lilli said.

"I'm sure there is a spell to translate things."

"What is your idea, Roderich?" Ludwig prodded.

"I think she might be a Seer. They were known in legends to be able to see all sorts of things. It's the best explanation I have anyway, that's why I want to ask Arthur." Explained Roderich.

"This is worrisome, though. If she could see through our act..." Lilli was far more concerned than Ludwig was.

"I'm sure," said Ludwig, "that not many students are as perceptive as this Luna is."

Lilli wasn't convinced, "I think we need to tell Arthur, there must be some way to send a letter out without it being seen."

"Maybe there's a tower somewhere that isn't being watched?" Roderich suggested.

"While I agree that Arthur should be notified of these new developments, we need to be rational. You have made sure she won't tell people, yes?" Ludwig interrupted.

Roderich scoffed, "Yes, of course I have. I made her promise. I just don't think she poses any threat."

They both looked dubious, but eventually nodded and went their separate ways.

None of them were expecting anything like Luna.

-Linebreak-

Arthur was tired of waiting. It was already October and he had only received two letters. Was it too much to ask that he stay posted on what was happening?

He had such a headache, though he had headaches so often nowadays that it was becoming unusual to go through a day without one. He left the letter on the desk.

' _Dear Arthur,_

 _The Ministry witch you were most likely told about, Professor Umbridge, has recently started checking mail, as well as apparently pulling owls from the sky. It would be best advised that you do not send any letters unless it reveals nothing, Gilbert is sure that Umbridge would love any excuse to exercise her new power._

 _We have also encountered another problem. A young girl by the name of Luna Lovegood, a Ravenclaw like me, has caught on to us. She knows exactly who and what we are. I did make her promise that she wouldn't speak of it to anyone, but Lilli though it best you be notified. I believe Luna to be a Seer, but I thought you might know more than I._

 _On another note, all of us have joined a so called defense club, the D.A, due to Umbridge's lack of actual teaching. It is lead by Harry. '_ Why didn't you tell us Harry did all those awesome things in his previous years _?' My apologies, Gilbert insisted in asking."_

 _If you really do feel the need to send a letter or anything, please tell the owl to go to the highest window of Ravenclaw tower, it is somewhat away from sight. Though caution is advised._

 _'_ I'm totally behaving myself by the way, Artie. _'_

 _Roderich_ 'and Gilbert _'_

Through the pain, Arthur could only think that something was wrong at Hogwarts before collapsing on his bed.


	20. Chapter Nineteen

**I'm so so incredibly sorry this chapter did not come out sooner, my daily schedule was thrown around which made it harder to write and in top of that I was sick, so finding motivation to write and then making comprehensible sentences was nearly impossible, but I'm okay now and things have settled down.**

 **I mainly wrote this as a way to get back into the mood for this story, to help me write the next chapter which will hopefully be more eventful and also probably won't take as long to come out. Anyway, on to this chapter!**

 **The Impact of Professor Umbridge and Dumbledore's army.**

Gilbert was definitely _not_ behaving himself.

Yeah, yeah, he told Arthur that he was. Yeah, this means he lied. But hey, Arthur didn't need another headache, right?

Gilbert just felt like Professor Umbridge needed a bit of 'fun' in her daily life. Gilbert still did all his homework assignments and he did the reading, he still wanted to pass the O.L.D exams or whatever they were called. It's just... somedays Umbridge found a dung bomb in her office and other days she didn't.

Of course, no one would ever be able to tell it was him.

After centuries of pranking other nations, Gilbert knew how to not be caught.

-Linebreak-

Dolores Umbridge was perplexed.

She simply didn't know what to make of one Gilbert Beilschmidt. The boy was obviously a trouble maker, that much was evident from the first class she had him in, but he still did his work. He passed the practice exams she gave him with flying colours, and for the most part he payed attention.

But she was sure he was a delinquent. He had to be, the boy talked to Harry Potter. He believed Harry's lies!

Yes, Dolores didn't know what to make of Gilbert Beilschmidt.

-Linebreak-

Luna would not stop asking Roderich questions.

Most times they were silly questions like "what does it mean when you sneeze" or "why do you wear glasses". This was a nice change compared to the things most people asked when they found out nations existed.

Sometimes she asked deeper things, like of they knew where they came from or how they came to exist, none of which Roderich felt like answering. Some of which he didn't even know the answer to! It was one of the big mysteries surrounding the nations, how they came to be.

He was just glad Luna had enough sense not to ask anything around any one else.

-Linebreak-

Professor Umbridge did not get any better.

At least in Lilli's opinion she didn't. Umbridge was just as dull and boring as she was when the school year began, and she was even more boring as a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher now that Harry was teaching them on the side.

Lilli liked Harry, even though she never really saw him. From what Elizabeta had said about him, he was nice enough, and Lilli thought he was brave, especially if what Hermione said was true.

Anyway, back onto Umbridge.

Lilli hadn't seen or heard her talk about Harry or Voldemort, but what Eliza told her was terrible to hear. How could on woman be so blind? Especially a woman who worked for the wizarding government.

Though, she supposed sometimes governments didn't tell their people what they really ought to tell them. Lilli had seen that happen many times throughout her lifetime.

If anything, Umbridge only got worse. She used the power she had given herself to her advantage and belittled other teachers. The professor was also extra focused on finding any reason to expel someone, meaning that at the slightest wrong movement she would interrogate any poor student. And her interrogations often caused younger students to break down and cry.

Lilli liked to stay after class and help cheer those students up. They just needed some reassurance and support, even just someone to talk to. Lilli liked being that person, who made everyone happy. She was used to it too, her brother often came home angry or upset and she would talk him through his day and calm him down. Sometimes she just listened to him while he ranted.

Her time helping her brother calm down had made her better at dealing with people's emotions and how to help with them.

She made lots of friends this way.

Hannah said she was just a people person, which was true enough. Lilli wanted to help, and she liked helping.

At some point, Ludwig started staying behind with her. He wasn't as good as she was when it came to comforting others, he offered tips and tricks that she couldn't.

That's where they were now, standing outside the doors to Umbridge's room waiting for the poor boy inside to come out

He came out crying, and Lilli reached out and rubbed his back gently.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

The boy looked at her through his tears and nodded.

"We are not going to judge you for crying," Ludwig said, awkwardly patting the boys arm.

"I *hic* I..."

"Shh, shh, it's okay. She was way too harsh."

"You don't even *hic* you don't even know what she said."

"I know that you don't deserve it." Lilli said quietly.

"All you did was cough a few times, she had no right..." Ludwig trailed off.

"I *sniff* I know you're right but I... she's just so intense..."

"I know she is, but that's why you can't let her get to you," Ludwig said. Lilli continued to rub circles on the boy's back. They had sat down on a hall bench.

"I... I know that, *sniff* but I'm not strong when it comes to confrontation..."

"You don't have to be, she needs to know that this isn't okay. I know people younger than her that are more mature than she is." Lilli said.

"Heh... *sniff*..."

"I also know people her age that are way less mature, but we don't talk about them," Lilli said. She could hear Ludwig snort beside her.

The boy was laughing now, small wet laughs, but it was laughter nonetheless.

Lilli and Ludwig continued talking to the boy, who the learned was a first year named Nicholas, as they walked to his next class.

Helping people always made Lilli feel warm inside.

-Linebreak-

Basch thought Draco got on his nerves on his first day at Hogwarts.

Draco did not get any less irritating. He was intent on finding a way to push all of Basch's buttons. So far, it wasn't working, or at least Draco 'thought' it wasn't working. In reality, Basch was very annoyed, bordering on peeved off. He was just good at hiding that.

Years of experience have allowed him to perfect his 'I don't care you and don't amuse me' face. Draco was kind enough to let him practice that expression more.

On another note, Basch didn't understand why Umbridge started making new rules or why no one called her out for it. She was only a High Inquisitor wasn't she, so what allowed her to create school rules?

Speaking of Umbridge, he had lost all hope that her class was meaningful, that her class had purpose, that there was a reason they sat down and stared at a book for an hour and a half twice a week.

Though, to be fair, he didn't have much hope to loose, not after Harry and Hermione started the D.A.

Harry was a good enough teacher, but Basch could tell Harry had no teaching experience. It was painfully obvious, but he got better as they had more meetings. Hermione seemed like a much better candidate for leader, but he supposed Harry _was_ The Boy Who Lived.

Still, no matter how Basch felt about Harry, he knew that they were doing something good. And it was an excuse to get away from Draco and the Slytherins.

Unfortunately, Charlotte wasn't a part of their little club, so he couldn't confide in her no matter how friendly she was. Keeping to himself wasn't at all difficult for Basch; he had spent hundreds of years doing just that. Even though he felt guilty whenever he thought about it.

Basch didn't usually approve of rule breaking, but sometimes it was necessary.

-Linebreak-

Being a part of the D.A definitely improved the overall mood of the members, especially the mood in Umbridge's 'class'. They still dreaded the hour and some that they had to spend with her, but now they had something to look forward to.

Harry was impressed with how quickly some of the D.A members learned. Some of them caught on quickly and were using new spells against each other within the first month. Others, of course, weren't as fast to learn. But Harry tried his best to be patient. After all, he wasn't the best student himself.

Neville, for example, wasn't the best at any spell, but it was clear that he was trying. Elizabeta, who had long since passed Neville's level of skill, had started helping Neville and encouraging him. From what Harry overheard, she was much better at teaching, almost motherly in a way.

In fact, all of the transfer students picked up the spells faster than most others. After the second meeting, all of them had become almost proficient in the 'Expelliarmus' spell. Harry was impressed, though he assumed they had simply been taught similar things at their own school.

Harry enjoyed these meetings, no matter the risk that came with holding them. He especially enjoyed getting to see people he didn't see a lot, and getting to see them grow both in skill and in relationships. Like how Hannah Abbott could now use the 'Expelliarmus' spell without throwing everything around her away from her, or how Luna seemed closer to Roderich than to anyone else despite only meeting him this year.

The D.A was their little secret, and Harry found that he liked secrets more when you weren't the only one who knew them.


End file.
